Director Sion Sono is no stranger to crafting wildly inventive and subversive films that often satirize aspects of Japanese culture while bringing in surrealism and ass-kicking yakuza. That being said, it seems too good to be true that Sono would be helming a film starring Nicholas Cage in its bonkers and leading role. But, Prisoners of the Ghostland is exactly that and more.
Prisoners of the Ghostland's full-length trailer can be seen below in all its bloody glory. The trailer shows off Nicholas Cage as a bank robber turned nameless hero. Imprisoned in Samurai Town, he's sprung from jail and tasked with rescuing the Governor's granddaughter from Ghostland in five days. If he fails, then the bombs strapped to him will explode.
Co-written by Aaron Henry (Inhumans) and Reza Sixo Safai (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), Prisoners of the Ghostland stars Bill Moseley as Samurai Town's Governor, Sofia Boutella as the Governor's adopted grandaughter Bernice, Nick Cassavetes as a character named Psycho, and Tak Sakaguchi as Yasujiro. However, the film's trailer also boasts sneak peeks into impressive sword fighting, gunplay, and a haunting kamishibai chorus sequence that promises its ensemble cast is also a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming action film. For now, the trailer teases a Mad Max-style wasteland tale with a Western flair that's readied to explore the intriguing mystery around Bernice's whereabouts.
Prisoners of the Ghostland debuted at 2021's Sundance Film Festival and quickly earned the title of the "wildest film" that Cage has ever starred in and received rave reviews for being both a high-octane apocalyptic action film and one that deeply digs into Japan's experience with nuclear disaster. The Ghostland is a fictional place and a moving metaphor for how Japan was radically changed after the events of Hiroshima and 2011's Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Produced by the same minds that brought Nic Cage fans Mandy and Color Out of Space, as well as the beloved 2011's The Raid: Redemption (for diehard action fans), the film is set up to be both action-packed and genre-bending. Prisoners of the Ghostland will be making its Canadian premiere on Aug. 20 at Fantasia's 25th International Film Festival. RLJE Films will release Sion Sono's Prisoners of the Ghostland in theaters, VOD, and Digital on Sept. 17.
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