Nicolas Cage is one of the most successful actors in the Hollywood industry. He is better known for his roles in movies like Vampire’s Kiss, Adaptation, National Treasure, The Wicker Man, and more. By winning the Oscar for Best Actor, he has achieved the dream of every actor and moreover, proved himself as a master of his field.

Nicholas Cage

In the early 2000s, Nicolas Cage was a huge star recognized by everyone. No doubt, he’s still a notable star to date, but other studios realized he doesn’t draw audiences like before.

The movie that made this clear was Windtalkers. They paid him around $20 million, but the film was a disaster. It’s not all his fault, but the movie lost between $100 and $150 million (adjusted for inflation) which was too much.

Nicolas Cage Lost His Reputation After Starring in John Woo’s Movie

Nicholas Cage in Windtalkers

Nicolas Cage has become one of the industry’s biggest actors. Yes, he is no doubt a pretty big Hollywood star, but he lost prominence to cast in other movies because studios thought his ability to attract an audience had diminished since he did Windtalkers.

Still, he did movies like Ghost Rider, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Next, and The Weather Man (to name a few more), after Windtalkers. Released in 2002 the movie is about two World War II U.S. Marines assigned to protect Navajo Marines who use their native language as a durable radio cipher.

The movie’s financial disaster marked a turning point, especially for Cage. He was paid roughly $20 million (at that time) to play the role of Sgt. Joe Enders to lead the film, but it proved to be a major flop.

The consequences were serious because the film lost between $100 and $150 million when adjusted for inflation.

Although the movie’s failure can’t be attributed solely to him, its non-success played a key role in shifting perceptions of Cage’s box office skill.

Why did the Windtalkers Flop on the Box Office?

A still from the movie Windtalkers (2002)

Windtalkers was heavily criticized by the viewers because it made them question its authenticity. The story of the movie might be factual, but the interpretation of its storyline is questionable. That’s the reason, it received mixed reviews alike in the end.

The film was theatrically released in 2002, grossing just $77.6 million worldwide against a production budget of $115 million – which is clearly a huge loss!

The financially unsuccessful outcome of the movie also badly affected the image of Nicolas Cage – as it is already shown that the audience began questioning his presence on the screens of Windtalkers even after being paid too much.