Nicolas Cage paid off debts with 'back to back to back' VOD films, but 'never phoned it in'

US actor Nicolas Cage and wife Riko Shibata and attend the premiere of The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent" during the SXSW Film Festival on March 12, 2022. Photo: AFP

Around 2014, after Nicolas Cage had a string of box office flops with the likes of The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, the actor started becoming the face of straight-to-VOD (video on demand) action movies.

Those roles piled up in the dozens as reports surfaced that Cage blew his US$150mil (RM632mil) fortune, owed the IRS US$6.3mil (RM26.65mil) in property taxes and was taking every acting role he could in order to get out of debt.