Nicolas Cage Talks About His Canceled Superman Movie And What Went Wrong

Nicolas Cage has appeared in more than 100 movies over his lengthy career, but one project that never came together was a Superman movie from director Tim Burton. Speaking at the Red Sea Film Festival recently, Cage discussed the project and explained why it was never made.

He said the studio wanted a different director, Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger), to make the Superman movie, not Burton, who previously directed 1989's Batman. Cage surmised that the studio got nervous about the budget for Superman and decided to call it off.

"I knew if you're gonna play that part, you have to hit the bull's eye. We got really close, but the studio called and shut the whole thing down," he said, as reported by Deadline. "I think they were afraid about how much it would cost and [if] they would get their money back."

Images of Cage in a Superman suit from his screen test later appeared online, giving fans a glimpse at what could have been. Cage never got his own Superman movie, but he did appear as Superman in The Flash in a cameo role.

Cage also recently discussed how his time as a film actor may be coming to an end, estimating that he only has 3-4 movies left in him. After that, though, he might turn his attention to a TV project.

Cage won an Oscar for 1995's Leaving Las Vegas, though the actor never got paid for starring in the film. Cage's next movie is the A24 film Dream Scenario, in which he plays an unremarkable everyman who, for some reason, starts appearing in everyone's dreams.