Andrew Niccol’s sequel to ‘Lord of War’ brings back Cage’s arms dealer Yuri Orlov for a father-son rivalry in theaters Jan. 22.
Twenty-one years after Lord of War made Yuri Orlov one of Nicolas Cage‘s most quietly menacing characters, the merchant of death is back, and this time the competition is family. Vertical has released the first teaser for Lords of War, Andrew Niccol’s sequel starring Cage and Bill Skarsgard as an arms dealer and the son he never knew he had. The film opens in theaters nationwide on Jan. 22, 2027.
The original, released in 2005, followed Cage’s Orlov, a Ukrainian-American gunrunner who sells weapons to anyone who can pay, while an INTERPOL agent played by Ethan Hawke tries to bring him down. It was a modest box office performer at the time, but its cynical humor and its famous opening sequence, which follows a single bullet from factory to battlefield, have made it a cult favorite and one of the most rewatched Cage films of the era.
The sequel picks up with Orlov discovering he has a son, Anton, played by Skarsgard. Anton is a ruthless mercenary who wants to outdo his father by building a private army and profiting from America’s wars in the Middle East, turning the story into a father-son rivalry with the global arms trade at stake.
“Anton isn’t out to right his father’s wrongs; he’s out to top them,” Niccol said when Vertical acquired the film.
Cage is the only returning cast member from the original, which also starred Jared Leto and Bridget Moynahan. Laura Harrier, Sylvia Hoeks and Greg Tarzan Davis co-star. Niccol, who also wrote The Truman Show and wrote and directed Gattaca, returns as writer and director, and producers Philippe Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi are back for Vendome Pictures alongside Niccol and Cage for Saturn Films. Skarsgard also serves as an executive producer.
The pairing is a smart one. Cage has spent the last several years in one of the most interesting stretches of his career, mixing genre swings with offbeat lead roles, while Skarsgard has become one of the most in-demand character actors in Hollywood after playing Pennywise in It and Count Orlok in Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu. Seeing them square off as two generations of the same amoral family business is exactly the kind of matchup that sells a January thriller.
Watch the Teaser Below
Lords of War opens in theaters Jan. 22, 2027, from Vertical.
