Nicolas Cage and writer-director Andrew Niccol are reteaming for Lords of War — a sequel to the 2005 crime thriller Lord of War, which starred Cage as Yuri Orlov, a composite character based on numerous arms dealers.
Bill Skarsgård is also on board as Orlov’s son. Vendôme Pictures, the studio behind CODA, is backing the film.
In this sequel, Yuri Orlov, the world’s most notorious gunrunner, discovers he has a son named Anton who isn’t trying to right his father’s wrongs — he’s trying to top them. Not only selling guns but the “trigger pullers” too, Anton is amassing a mercenary army to fight America’s Middle East conflicts.
The film revolves around Yuri and Anton’s bitter rivalry, who are even at odds over the same woman. Who will prevail when father and son go to war?
It’s a curious film to make a sequel to, because while Lord of War was well received back in 2005 – it has one of the most inventive opening credit sequences you’re likely to see – it hasn’t exactly remained in the cultural conversation. But critically, war and the U.S.A’s perennial involvement, have not. Niccol said in a statement:
“There is so much more to explore with these characters. Plato said it best – ‘Only the dead have seen the end of war.’ I’m looking forward to spending more time in the company of the charming devil that is Yuri Orlov and now his illegitimate son – who turns out to not be legitimate in any way.”
This will be Niccol’s first film since 2018 thriller Anon. He previously directed Gattaca and wrote the screenplay for The Truman Show.
Cage can currently be seen in horror comedy Renfield, and has psychological horror Sympathy for the Devil, comedy crime film The Retirement Plan, comedy Dream Scenario, and horror thriller Longlegs in various stages of post-production and due in the next year.
Production on Lords of War is set to enter production in the autumn.
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