Nicolas Cage revealed on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” that he once tried to have a movie studio built in Las Vegas and even secured $80 million for it. What went wrong? The actor said Elon Musk came to town and Las Vegas chose to put the money into Tesla Corporation rather than his desired film studio. Cage lives in Las Vegas and the city has been the setting for some of his films such as Leaving Las Vegas and Honeymoon in Vegas. Cage won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in “Leaving Las Vegas.”
“Vegas has been good to me, it really has been,” Cage said. “It’s both a small town and a big city. It is probably one of the most unique addresses. If you want to go to the strip and participate, you can. If you just want to go with the locals and go to the cool restaurants, you can do that.”
Cage confirmed that he originally moved to Las Vegas for tax reasons, but “then I learned to love it.” The actor added, “I’ve had a great experience shooting films there. “Leaving Vegas” was great. Honeymoon in Vegas is great. I have good mojo there. I was trying to get a movie studio built there, and then Elon Musk came in, and all the money that I got for the movie studio — I got $80 million — they put into the Tesla Corporation, which ironically then does the whole city has drained. But I almost did it, I almost got a movie studio.”
Cage is currently on his press tour for The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself. The Lionsgate release opens in theaters on Friday. Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman called the film “a hilarious meditation” on Cage’s legacy as an actor, adding, “It’s a commercial comedy that makes mad fun of Nicolas Cage and celebrates everything that makes him Nicolas.” Cage does — and, it actually ends up being a Nicolas Cage movie, which turns out to be both a cheesy thing and a special thing.”
Watch Cage’s full performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the video below.
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