Nicolas Cagetries out a new look in the first trailer for Gabe Polsky’s new movie,Butcher’s Crossing, which is coming to theaters on October 20, more than a year after its first screening at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
Based on the 1960 Western novel of the same name written by John Edward Williams, the story centers on a group of buffalo hunters in the Old West. In search of a different adventure, Will Andrews (Fred Hechinger) decides to leave Harvard and joins Miller (Cage) on a journey that will test their abilities to survive and overcome anything. The film, like the book, reflects on human nature, the complexes behind masculinity, and man’s fight against nature.
Saban Films released the first trailerfor the movie on Monday, showing Cage’s wilder side and with a very different look:
Butcher’s Crossingalso stars Jeremy Bobb, Xander Berkeley, Rachel Keller, and Paul Raci. The script was co-written by Polsky and Liam Satre-Meloy. The director shared someemotional words via Entertainment Weeklyalong with the release of the trailer:
“This film has been many years in the making, and after an epically challenging shoot and a world premiere at TIFF, I’m so excited that now is the time for the world to see it. Audiences are in for a harrowing journey and an enigmatic Nicolas Cage performance that explores the nature of ambition — the powerful and destructive energy that has shaped America and our planet.”
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The Inspiration for Butcher’s Crossing
Cage is used to playing unconventional or very different roles, demonstrating that his acting skills can be applied in drama, comedy, action, horror and even Westerns. As heprepares for a very different challengewith another of his upcoming films,Dream Scenario,Butcher’s Crossingwill also give him the opportunity to surprise audiences.
For this role, the actor was inspired by two great figures, very different but equally transcendental. EW was also present during the film’s presentation last year at TIFF, where Cage revealed to the outlet how Michael Jordan and Marlon Brando helped him build this character in particular:
“Gabe Polsky wanted me to shave the head because he was thinking about Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan on the court, and that need to win. Isn’t that in Miller? The need to score, to win. I started thinking about it. There is a kind of Joseph Conrad, Kurtz view by way of Coppola’s Apocalypse Now appearance to the shaved head. It sort of works. It coalesces. It could be both. It could be Michael Jordan meets Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now.”
Butcher’s Crossingis the sixth film in which Cage will appear this year following Brett Donowho’sThe Old Way, Universal Pictures' dark comedyRenfield, his cameo as Superman inThe Flash, Yuval Adler’sSympathy for the Devil, and Tim Brown’sThe Retirement Plan, while Kristoffer Borgli’sDream Scenariowill premiere on November 10.
