CONNED-AIR
How crisis-hit Nicolas Cage blew £110m fortune on exotic animals and tombs and ended up ‘mistaken for homeless person’
HE was once one of Hollywood’s best paid stars commanding up to £15million a movie, having made his name playing a drunk in Leaving Las Vegas.
And in a bizarre case of life imitating art last week, Nicolas Cage, 57, was filmed getting kicked out of a fancy Sin City restaurant following a drunken spat with staff.
10
10
The boozing Hollywood star - wearing leopard print trousers and no shoes - was even "mistaken for a homeless man" by onlookers due to his dishevelled appearance after knocking back expensive whisky.
- who was once a pin-up star - has been in some huge blockbuster films including National Treasure and Con-Air since he shot to fame in 1983.
But over the years Cage has courted his fair share of controversy, blowing a reported £110million on eccentric purchases - including a £110,000 octopus and a £219,000 stolen dinosaur skull - and marrying five times.
Pals believe his mood swings are often tied to his turbulent love life.
He only married his latest wife Riko Shibata – 31 years his junior, aged 26 - in February.
One source told The Sun: “He tends to fall hard and fast but all too often Nic’s romance have erupted with a bang and left him with egg on his face.
“He’s such an all-or-nothing type character and always has been.
“Nic is either madly in love and touring the world with his new lady or they’re done and dusted and he’s back to square one. It’s like there’s no in between.”
Most read in SHOWBIZ
They added: “The general view is that he’s a flawed genius, like a tortured soul who’s had some real rotten luck. The poor guy can’t seem to stop self-destructing.
“It’s ironic he’s played these two ultimate extreme roles - a clean living, ordinary character in The Family Man versus the hellraising Leaving Las Vegas guy who had a death wish.
“Maybe Nic’s real life is destined to be like somewhere between the two.”
The actor spends most of his time in Las Vegas these days, where sources say he prides himself on staying out of the public eye wherever possible.
But the new footage of him appearing wide-eyed and wasted is not a huge surprise to those in the know.
The insider said: “Nic has been lurching from one drama or crisis to another for longer than most people in Hollywood can remember.
“For all his success as an actor over the years he’s made some shocking low points on a personal level.
“Even he would probably be hard pressed to deny making some extremely rash choices, many of which have come back to bite him hard.
“Over the past few years, he’s been known to hang out with non-famous types and he seems happiest socialising in pretty down-and-dirty locations.
"To be fair to Nic, most of his friends are fiercely protective and he can enjoy drinks in Nevada without being ratted out or gossiped over.
“Obviously that didn’t happen this time round, but he’s out partying a lot so it’s kind of surprising in some ways this hasn’t happened sooner.”
Nicolas has previously blamed his accountants on sending him “down a path toward financial ruin".
But when you can't resist splashing out on sea creatures, 11th-century castles and exotic private islands, it’s easy to see where Nicolas’ cash has gone.
Here we take a closer look at some of the star's most unusual splurges.
Five weddings
10
Earlier this year, Nicolas got married for the fifth time to Riko Shibata at the Wynn Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.
Nicolas bought his new bride, who is 30 years his junior, a black and gold diamond engagement ring completely customised to be her favourite colours.
He has had four weddings before Riko - including one to make-up artist Erika Koike in March 2019, that ended after just four days.
The couple had been dating for over a year before their marriage crumbled in less than a week.
He was intoxicated when they wed in Vegas and he filed for an annulment soon after.
However, Erika reportedly opposed the annulment and made a spousal support claim - though it's unclear whether she received any money.
Before her, Nicolas was married to actress Patricia Arquette from 1995 to 2001.
He was also famously hitched to Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley, but their marriage lasted just three months.
The couple reportedly had a fierce row which saw her £47,550 six-carat yellow diamond engagement ring hurled into the sea.
The source told The Sun: “A lot of people close to Nic think it’s a real shame he didn’t wind up making his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley work.
“Besides the fact they’re both Hollywood royalty, they had a similar intense nature and that star quality that most of their subsequent partners have lacked in spades.
“But it wasn’t the right time for either of them back then, and Nic’s insistence on staying in Vegas full time would have been a sticking point for her anyway."
Shortly after their divorce, Nicolas married Alice Kim in 2004 - who is mother to his youngest son Kal-El, 15, before their divorce in 2016.
£110,000 on 'restful' octopus
10
He may have recently pulled out of playing Joe Exotic in Amazon’s now-axed Tiger King TV series, but Nicolas has a love of exotic animals in real life.
In one spree, he spent £202,000 ($276,000) on two poisonous cobras and an octopus.
The octopus alone set Cage back £109.400 ($150,000) and he told the he found his eight-tentacled friend “restful”.
He even claimed the octopus made him a better actor.
£11.6million on castles
10
Similarly to his character in National Treasure, Nicolas became infatuated with finding the Holy Grail.
In fact, he became so obsessed that he bought two castles in Europe for £5.8million ($8m) each.
He went on to spend an extra few million on having both castles remodelled and spruced up.
The first was an 11th-century Bavarian castle in Etzelwang, Germany, and his second was in Bath, which led him to tasting the waters of the Chalice Well in Glastonbury.
His quest eventually led him to explore Rhode Island in the States.
When asked if he found the Grail, Cage simply asked : “What is the Grail but Earth itself?” Deep.
£2.5million haunted house
10
In 2007, in the hope of one day writing a horror novel, Nicolas splashed out £2.5million ($3.45m) on the LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans - believed to be one of the most haunted houses in the world.
The mansion once belonged to serial killer Madame Delphine LaLaurie - whose story was told in one series of American Horror Story.
Between 1787 and 1849, she tortured and murdered countless slaves in her household.
Unfortunately, Nicolas lost the house - along with another mansion - to foreclosure in 2009, as he owed the Internal Revenue Service £10million in tax.
And the novel? “I didn’t get too far,” he told Vanity Fair.
£219,000 stolen dinosaur skull
10
One of Nicolas’ craziest splurges was on a 67 million-year-old Tarbosaurus dinosaur skull for over £218,800 ($300k) in 2007.
The actor even reportedly outbid Leonardo DiCaprio in an auction for the relic.
Nicolas later discovered the head had been stolen from Mongolia’s Gobi Desert.
Contacted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2014, the actor agreed to hand it over to Mongolian cops so it could be returned.
9ft pyramid tombstone
10
Standing in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans is a nine-foot pyramid tomb that reads in Latin, “Omni Ab Uno,” meaning “Everything From One”.
Nicolas bought the twin plots in the cemetery underneath and built the pyramid over them in 2010.
Last year, the Face/Off actor was seen visiting his tombstone with Riko - and it’s believed he’ll be buried there when he dies.
While it’s unknown how much he paid for the pyramid, it’s safe to say it wasn’t cheap.
£5million islands and £18million houses
10
It’s safe to say Nicolas has expensive taste, and, at one point, he owned 15 properties at the same time.
His portfolio boasted a £18.2million ($25 million) waterfront home in Newport Beach, California, as well as a £11.5million ($15.7m) countryside estate in Newport, Rhode Island and a £6.2million ($8.5 m) estate in Las Vegas.
On top of that, he’s got two private islands in the Bahamas.
He paid a whopping £5.1million ($7m) for a sprawling 40-acre island south of Nassau.
50 cars, 30 motorbikes and 4 yachts
10
Nicolas has a very extensive vehicle collection, consisting of more than 50 rare cars, 30 motorbikes and four gigantic yachts.
His most expensive yacht was worth a reported £14.6million ($20 m), and boasted 12 master bedrooms.
The most he's spent on a car was an eye-watering £729,600 ($1m) for a Ferrari Enzo, one of only 349 made in the world.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
He was also an owner of a 1955 Jaguar D-Type, which he proudly displayed in his games room at home, with many celebs saying it was a conversation piece.
To top that off, he owned around nine Rolls Royce cars, and a £328,400 ($450,000) Ferrari bought in 1997 that was once owned by the Shah of Iran.
Topics