Nicolas Cage is a celebrity whom we always see involved in weird activities. Besides, the actor has shown exceptional acting skills and made his place in the industry. He’s efficient, charming and interesting and always gives his best no matter if the movie is a hit or a flop. In fact, the man is exceptionally versatile for he works in several genres. No actor has lived as many lives as Cage has. The rollercoaster nature of the second half of his career is impossible to untangle from his financial issues.
However, despite all this Nicolas Cage had a great deal of financial crisis at one point. And to be honest, much of his crisis was because of his own stupidity. Have you heard of the case where he lost a giant amount just to make Leonardo DiCaprio lose a bet? That too over a stolen dinosaur skull. He has certain funny stories involving himself to say about his life. Furthermore, we will love to hear about it. About the skull thingy, we know a great deal. And we are set to share every detail with you. First things first, after a brief synopsis of the life of Nicolas Cage we will move on to the story. Stay with us throughout.
About Nicolas Cage
Life
Nicolas Kim Coppola was born on January 7, 1964. Firstly, people know him professionally as Nicolas Cage. Secondly, he is an American actor and filmmaker.
Thirdly, Cage was born in Long Beach, California. Fourthly, his parents are August Coppola, a professor of literature, and Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer. Fifthly, he was raised in a Catholic family.
Sixthly, Cage’s two brothers are New York radio personality Marc “The Cope” Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. Seventhly, he studied at Beverly Hills High School. Eighthly, he wanted to act from an early age, so he attended UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Career
Nicolas Cage has won many accolades in his life. Firstly, he has received an Academy Award. Secondly, a Screen Actors Guild Award and thirdly, a Golden Globe Award.
Let us talk about some of his notable works. Valley Girl (1983), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Moonstruck (1987) and Wild at Heart (1990). During this period, John Willis’ Screen World, Vol. 36 listed him as one of 12 Promising New Actors of 1984. For his amazing acting in Leaving Las Vegas (1995), he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
After this, we saw him in more mainstream films. The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), Face/Off (1997), City of Angels (1998), and Gone in 60 Seconds (2000). Furthermore, we have The Family Man (2000), Windtalkers (2002), the National Treasure film series (2004-2007), and Lord of War (2005). In addition, there is The Wicker Man (2006), Ghost Rider (2007) and Knowing (2009). We know that he also directed Sonny (2002), and for that, the academy nominated him for Grand Special Prize at Deauville Film Festival. Furthermore, he got his second Academy Award nomination for his performance in Adaptation (2002).
Nicolas Cage has his own production company Saturn Films. He has produced films such as Shadow of the Vampire (2000) and The Life of David Gale (2003). In October 1997, he ranked No. 40 in Empire magazine’s The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list. In addition, the next year he was No. 37 in Premiere’s 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood.
Between the 2010s and the 2020s, was in Kick-Ass (2010), Joe (2013), Mandy (2018), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Pig (2021). All these roles made him very famous as an actor.
What’s This Thing About Winning To DicCaprio And Losing To The Bank Account?
Undoubtedly Nicolas Cage is a wealthy man. However, he has put his money to waste in some incidents. In 2007, the actor spent $276,000 on a Tyrannosaurus bataar skull. Although he beat out DiCaprio, from a Beverly Hills gallery I.M. Chait, he lost a hefty amount in the process. To make matters worse seven years later, the Department of Homeland Security told Cage that the skull was stolen. For Mongolia, illegally. After investigation, they found out that the gallery purchased the skull, with other skeletons. The person who sold it was Eric Prokopi, a Florida man who was a black market palaeontologist.
What happened to him? Prokopi was charged with conspiracy to smuggle illegal goods, owning stolen property, making false statements, and smuggling goods into the U.S. Furthermore, the department found that he had interstate sales and receipts of stolen goods. Like smuggling bones from Mongolia and China into the U.S., We heard that he helped prosecutors dig over 17 fossils, including the skull.
Thankfully Nicolas Cage was not accused of anything by the department of police. However, he had to give up the skull. Furthermore, the National Treasure did not return the money to him. In an episode of GQ’s Actually Me video series, Cage said that he did not receive any compensation for the incident.
Hear What Nicolas Cage Has To Say
“There’s this skull I bought at an auction and I bought it legally”, he said. “Here’s the MacGuffin. When the Mongolian government said that they needed it back. I gave it to ’em, but I never got my money back. So somebody at the auction house should be in jail.”
Nevertheless, we are blaming Nicolas Cage for spending money like that at that time. During that time Cage had a $150 million fortune in his bank account. Besides, he was earning $20 million for his biggest movies. But a few years later, because of his own silly deeds, he faced severe financial problems.
However, we must be thinking that he lost all his money because of the whole dinosaur episode. But no. In fact, the truth is what Cage has shared in his story for GQ. We see that he has more to share about losing his money.
What Other Reasons Did Nicolas Cage Have?
He was just as affected by the 2008 real estate crash as people with regular jobs. Nicolas Cage had many exotic residences in North and Central America. Firstly, the LaLaurie mansion, or the “Most Haunted House in America” in New Orleans. Secondly, the 16th-century Schloss Neidstein in Germany. Thirdly, the 18th-century Midford Castle in England. Fourthly, the Gray Craig estate in Rhode Island. Fifthly, the Leaf Cay island in the Bahamas.
“I didn’t believe in stocks because I think they’re like gambling and they’re dangerous, but you can dump a stock,” “You can’t get out of a real estate that quickly”, Cage shared with the media.
Furthermore, he sued his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, for fraud in 2009. Levin then countersued, stating that the actor was a very reckless spender. The case came to an end with the actor owing the IRS $14 million to the creditors.
Ending Note
Despite all this, Nicolas Cage has slowly pulled himself out of each debt by 2020. He has worked very hard over the years and today he is thriving again. We wish the actor more success in the future.
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