Nicolas Cage Plans on Retiring From Film After ‘3 or 4 Movies’

After a long film career, Nicolas Cage is getting ready to explore new sides of his craft.

“I feel that I’ve, at this point — after 45 years of doing this … I feel I’ve pretty much said what I’ve had to say with cinema,” Cage, 59, explained in an interview with Uproxx published on Monday, December 4. “And I’d like to leave on a high note and say, ‘Adios.’ I think I have to do maybe three or four more movies before I can get there, and then hopefully switch formats and go into some other way of expressing my acting.”

The National Treasure actor went on to share that he would’ve stopped acting after filming Dream Scenario, which premiered in November but there are “other contracts that [he has] to fulfill.”

“I mean, I am going to be very severe and very astringent on the selection process moving forward. But for me to do another movie, I do want to explore other formats,” he told the outlet, noting that he is interested in making “immersion streaming with episodic television” part of his resume.

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“I have seen things that can be done now with characters and the time they’re given to express themselves,” he continued. “ I saw Bryan Cranston stare at a suitcase for an hour on one episode of Breaking Bad. We don’t have time to do that in a feature film, so maybe television is the next best step for me.”

After moving on from film, Cage wants to focus on spending “quality time” with his family. The actor shares son Weston 32, with ex Christina Fulton, Kal-El, 18, with ex-wife Alice Kim and 15-month-old daughter August with wife Riko Shibata.

“I’m going to be 60 next month and my dad died at 75. So it’s like, if I’m lucky, I have more years than he did, but I don’t know,” Cage shared. “What’s important is my children and I have a baby daughter. And if I can find an episodic show to do that stays in one place where I don’t have to keep leaving, we can all be together. That, on a personal level, would be great.”

This isn’t the first time Cage has brought up his retirement plans. In April 2018, the actor shared that he wants to focus more on other endeavors besides acting.

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“Directing is something I look forward to down the road,” he revealed at a press conference while promoting his film Primal, per The Blast. “Right now, I’m primarily a film performer and I’m gonna continue doing that for three or four more years and I’d like to focus more on directing.”

Cage recently made headlines for his performance in the 2023 comedy-horror film Dream Scenario, which follows a college professor who starts appearing in strangers’ dreams. The movie — which co-stars Dylan Gelula, Julianne Nicholson, Lily Gao, Noach Centineo and Michael Cera — brought in about $220,000 on an initial limited weekend opening and has garnered critical acclaim.