Nicolas Cage Action Pic ‘Prisoners Of The Ghostland’ Picked Up By RLJE Films Ahead Of Sundance

Before its Sundance Film Festival premiere, Japanese director Sion Sono’s action/adventure feature Prisoners of the Ghostland has been snapped up by AMC Networks’ RLJE Films.

RLJE distributed Cage’s trippy sci-fi feature Color Out of Space, which they picked up at TIFF 2019, and released this past summer’s The Tax Collector from David Ayer.

Prisoners of the Ghostland, written by Aaron Hendry and Rexa Sixo Safai, is set in the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town where a ruthless bank robber (Cage) is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within three days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.

Prisoners of the Ghostland was fully financed by Michael Mendelsohn’s Union Patriot Capital Management. Patriot Pictures and XYZ Films produced, with the latter handling world sales. XYZ has handled sales on Cage’s previous pics Color Out of Space and Mandy. Nick Cassavetes, Tak Sakaguchi (Tokyo Tribe) and Yuzuka Nakaya (The Forest of Love) also star. Joseph Trapanese (Tron: Legacy, The Raid: Redemption, The Greatest Showman) composed the original score.

Prisoners of the Ghostland was produced by Michael Mendelsohn for Patriot Pictures, Laura Rister  for Untitled Entertainment, Ko Mori for Eleven Arts, Reza Sixo Safai for Boos Boos Bang Bang and Nate Bolotin for XYZ Films. It was executive produced by Natalie Perrotta, Nick Spicer, Aram Tertzakian, and Yuji Sadai. Ward and Jess DeLeo from RLJE Films negotiated the deal with Bolotin from XYZ Films on behalf of the filmmakers.

“We’re excited to once again work with Nicolas Cage on a highly-anticipated film directed by the celebrated Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono,” said Mark Ward, Chief Acquisitions Officer of RLJE Films. “Following the success of Mandy and Color Out of Space, Prisoners of the Ghostland is already receiving great buzz and we cannot wait for audiences to see it at Sundance.”