After much delay, it looks like Andrew Niccol’s “Lord of War” sequel will finally start production this year. I thought this one might be dead, but it’s very much alive, and ready to go.
In the 2005 film, Nicolas Cage played illegal arms dealer Yuri Orlov, inspired by the stories of several real-life arms dealers and smugglers, but, primarily, Viktor Bout. The film dealt head-on with the issue of illicit arms trafficking by the international arms industry. It was, and still is, an incredibly relevant story.
Bill Skarsgård, who will play Orlov’s son in the sequel, has given an update (via Happy, Sad, Confused), and he’s saying a 2025 shoot is firmly being planned for this one.
[Nicolas Cage] is a legend. And it looks like it’s happening next year (referring to 2025). It’s a great script and I think it’ll be a fun one. The character, he’s a charismatic f**king a**hole. And you saw the first one… It’s so cynical and so satirical and bleak and like everyone’s terrible, and it’s also kind of a dark comedy… I like that. I like when you laugh at terrible people… So I think that’ll be a fun one.
I really liked “Lord of War,” which featured one of Cage’s best performances. Niccol will be back to write and direct the sequel which is set to shoot in numerous countries including Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Senegal and Mali. The budget for this one must be fairly high.
In this sequel, Orlov discovers he has a son, Anton (Skarsgård), who is trying to top his father’s wrongs rather than stop them as he launches a mercenary army to interfere in America’s Middle East conflicts.
Niccol, best known for writing “The Truman Show” and directing the great “Gattaca,” hasn’t been as active in the film scene in recent years. His last film was 2018’s ill-received “Anon.” These last ten years, Niccol has been struggling to make a good movie, his last few have been pretty bad: “In Time,” “The Host,” “Good Kill” all came and went without much fanfare. Here’s hoping ‘Lords of War 2’ puts him back on track.
Meanwhile, Cage keeps piling up the projects. On IMDB, he has 116 acting credits to his name. Last year, he was in Lorcan Finnegan’s “The Surfer,” Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs” and Benjamin Brewer’s “Arcadian.”
Cage will be very busy in 2025. He has two B-movies already nearly completed (“The Gunslingers,” “The Carpenter’s Son”) and is about to shoot David O. Russell’s “Madden.” He’s also the lead in Sony’s “Spider-Noir” series and in the middle of shooting David Mamet’s “The Prince” which is inspired by the life of Hunter Biden.