After the world premiere atSXSW 2024, theArcadiancast, director, and screenwriterMike Nilonstopped by Colliders media studio.
It’s very simple really.
How are you guys doing?
Image via Shudder
NICOLAS CAGE: Great.
Good to be back with you, Steve.
NICOLAS CAGE: I appreciate that.
Image via Shudder
I always think we have a good conversation.
I would like to also know that number in case I could save the money to work with Nic.
I learned a lot through the collaboration.
Image via Shudder
I’ve been fortunate enough to live this kind of super-normal life outside of the acting world.
I went to my neighborhood public school.
I ran cross country.
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NICOLAS CAGE: I learned from you.
You know they keep me interested.
I’m sure they also taught you about TikTok and Instagram.
Image via Lynch/Frost Productions
MAXWELL JENKINS: I think partly because we were filming in places with no cell phone reception.
[Cast Laughs]
NICOLAS CAGE: I only have one day or two days with you, Sadie.
We had a minimal amount of time to make this movie.
Image via Shudder
So, if I think Jaden has an interesting intellectual aura, let’s play with that.
Let’s keep that going.
Both the boys in the movie have similarities, but they have a distinction.
A father and his twin teenage sons fight to survive in a remote farmhouse at the end of the end of the world.
And I wanted to augment that.
As any father would, in this case, I’m playing Paul, who is a movie father.
And I apologized to Ben a couple of times on the set.
They’re like, wow, this one is really tricky.
You’re really doing a great job pulling that off.
He was part of the 35-man team that did the visual effects.
So that saved a lot of money because he was in the trenches working with the other VFX artists.
And people might not realize you have a real skill set with visual effects.
You did work on the visual effects.
BENJAMIN BREWER: Thanks.
Well, first of all,Godzilla Minus One, winning the Oscar, is extremely cool.
That’s one of the coolest things that’s happened in a minute.
I love that film.
I highly recommend it.
It’s the best Godzilla movie I’ve ever seen.
And so far, no one’s caught them.
Like, they all have invisible stuff that enhances performances.
So, yeah, that’s it, ask me about VFX.
The world might see the democratization of VFX.
BENJAMIN BREWER: One brief anecdote.
And we did the take three or four times.
And so Nic had to run a mile, and it was a long run.
I then got to honor for like three months of just being like, yeah, that’s like.
NICOLAS CAGE: I love that opening.
And it really inspires the creative juices to think outside the box.
And I think, yeah, we definitely felt so supported by the VFX team on this.
And I think it was in large part to you and to that mindset.
I’m doing a super cut of everyone who’s coming in and asking the same question.
NICOLAS CAGE: Rod Serling,The Twilight Zone.
Great actors, a great story structure.
He’s just the coolest guy ever on television and a genius writer.
MAXWELL JENKINS: I’m going to go.
It’s not nearly as impressive as that answer.
But I’m going to go with the original animatedAvatar:The Last Airbenderseries.
And I’m going to go with it.
It’s a story.
I know a lot of people that love that animated show.
SADIE SOVERALL: Yeah, mine if I’m being truthful, it changes all the time.
So I could not say one by at the moment for some reason.
I’m just really intoThe Simpsons.
It’s really comforting.
And I find Tree House of Horror really good, so I’m not going to go into it.
You know I apologize for that.
I think it’s great.
It’s, it’s also, it’s also been on for like forever.
Very funny, and a hundred percent can sing modern-day Frank Sinatra.
It’s crazy.We have one left.
BENJAMIN BREWER:The Real Housewives of Atlanta, no, I don’t know.
Wait I have to watch the show forever?
I’ve never, I was just trying to be funny.
I’ve never seen it, no what’s like.
No one had done anything like that, Twin Peaks is in the DNA of everything after.
You already made your decision, sir.
MAXWELL JENKINS: Avatar’s going in the cut.
That’s fine, that’s fine.
So for all of you guys, you see the shooting schedule.
What day do you have circled in terms of, I cannot wait to film this?
What day do you have circled in terms of, how are we gonna film this?
I don’t have any circle days in red.
Was there a day that you were particularly excited to film something?
A lot of thought went into casting Jaden and Maxwell.
But I knew I had to get up to speed very quickly.
So I would say the dinner table scene with they “Are We Not Men?”
I immediately thought my dad would do that, as ridiculous as it sounds.
And I was okay, and we would do that.
I said, let’s do that.
MAXWELL JENKINS: It is kind of a blur.
I think one of those was the cave sequence when we were fighting in the cave.
We filmed that both outside and in the studio, which was wild.
I always loved doing scenes where you might bridge that deep familial connection with sci-fi horror.
I think it almost makes it more real.
It’s like folkloric in a way.
No spoilers, though.
NICOLAS CAGE: You could make a movie about a stuntman.
You could remake the old Burt Reynolds movie,Hooper.
MAXWELL JENKINS: He would be great in that part.
Love to, yeah, 100% or dig Grayson.
I think I found it very entertaining when we’d shoot with the dog, Rocco.
Yeah, because he would be the bane of your life.
MAXWELL JENKINS: Yeah, the cockroaches were gnarly.
You’d go back to your trailer to change, and you’d just find one there.
No, everything about that is a no.
MAXWELL JENKINS: Well, because once they’re out, like their kind of out a little bit.
That is not for me.You guys?
And you just sent that to me.
I was like, yeah, yeah, okay.
And then I was like, wait a minute?
That is all the stuff they say don’t do because it’s hard.
But no, I love the challenge of it.
What day did you have circled in terms of whether you were really excited about filming something?
BENJAMIN BREWER: That would be day one.
But it’s also the day you dread.
I don’t know why, as it’s the first day of school.
Yeah, the camera and you are here.
We had to film him shoot him run into the woods.
And we had scouted this place a bunch of times.
It is fine, normal beautiful Irish weather.
We show up, and it’s just a daily deluge lashing.
We don’t come out here.
I will always come back to the nothing’s harder than the circus.
MAXWELL JENKINS: So yeah, it was when it was raining out there.
It was like it was more like can can we prove it to ourselves that we can do this?
Nothing’s what, nothing’s harder than the circus any time.
It’s like a rough dance set or at school or whatever.
That’s like my go-to last thing.
I got misty about it, just, it was a fun one for me.
I have to ask you an individual question, Nic.
There’s been a lot of talk about aSpider-Man Noirlive-action series that you could be a part of…
I personally would love for this to happen.
What can you say about this possible project?
NICOLAS CAGE: Well, I can say that we have been talking.
It’s no secret that I love the character.
I think the character provides another mashup of sorts.
It’s just conversation.
On that note, I appreciate you answering.
I really want to say, I hope you guys have a fantastic South By Southwest.
NICOLAS CAGE: Thanks so much, Steve.
Good to talk with you again.
Arcadianhits theaters on April 12, 2024.
Stay tuned to Collider for more exclusive coverage coming in from SXSW 2024.
