Rejoice, fans of crazy cinema because the first trailer forPrimalis here. This is the latest from Nicolas Cage, who has still been churning out a high volume of movies in recent years. Only, a good percentage of those movies have been much better than the schlock he was dealing with for some time. In this case, we can’t promise this won’t wind up being schlock, but it looks like the kind of schlock that Cage, very specifically, is designed to elevate. Who doesn’t want to watch an Oscar-winning actor fight a jaguar on a large boat?
The trailer paints a completely insane situation that seems as though it were dreamed up specifically to suitNicolas Cageat this point in his career. We see Cage’s character, an exotic animal collector, who has quite a shipment of such animals, dangerous ones, on a big ship. For reasons that seem to only be motivated by plot, an off-the-chain assassin is let loose on said ship, who decides to let these dangerous animals out of their cages. This results in a Cage vs large jungle cat scenario, so get the popcorn ready. The trailer culminates with a rather excellent line from Cage.
“You kill my cat, I’ll blow your head off.”
This seemingly wild ride wasdirected by Nick Powell, working from a script by Richard Leder. Powell is a longtime stuntman turned director. He’s worked on such movies asThe Bourne Identity,The Last Samuraiand evenJudge Dredd. So, at the very least, we can expect the action to be entertaining. Leder, meanwhile, has written a whole bunch of TV movies, with some of his previous credits beingScared SilentandChristmas on Chestnut Street.
Primalcenters on Frank Walsh (Nicolas Cage), a hunter and collector of rare and exotic animals. Frank has managed to land himself a priceless white jaguar for a zoo and assumes he’s got a path of smooth sailing to abig payday. Unfortunately, the ship holding Frank’s precious cargo has another predator caged in its hold in the form of a political assassin being extradited to the U.S. All hell breaks loose after this assassin breaks free, who decides to free the jaguar. Frank feverishly stalks the ship’s cramped corridors in hot pursuit of his prey, leading to an unpredictable climax.
In addition to Nicolas Cage, the full cast includes Famke Janssen (X-Men), Kevin Durand (Swamp Thing), LaMonica Garrett (The Last Ship) and Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos). With movies likeMandyand the upcomingColor Out of Spaceunder his belt, we can’t simply write off Cage these days. Will this be another gem? We’ll know soon enough, asPrimalis set to hit select theaters and On Demand on November 8. Be sure to check out the trailer from the Lionsgate at Home YouTube channel for yourself.
