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Exclusive: “Where there’s a hit, there’s a false writ,” Vertigo Films co-founder James Richardson has declared after a judge threw out a lawsuit, in which a writer claimed that Vertigo’s Roman Empire series Britannia was stolen.

Penned by Jez Butterworth and Tom Butterworth, Britannia ran for three seasons on Sky before its cancellation in 2023. Starring The Walking Dead actor David Morrissey as a military leader who spearheads the Roman invasion of Britannia, the drama aired on Amazon Prime Video and later Epix in the U.S.

Benjamin Crushcov, a writer and teacher, alleged in a High Court lawsuit that Sky misappropriated his idea and original script for Britannia, and then conspired to cover up the drama’s true origins. Executive producer Richardson was named as a defendant in the £6.5M ($8.7M) lawsuit, as was Karen Hyland, a journalist who Crushcov accused of taking a copy of his...

It's safe to say that, throughout Hulu's new original series "Paradise", a lot of stuff happens in the show's first season, which spans eight episodes and imagines a world where a private community lives in a Colorado bunker after an apocalyptic event. We spend the majority of our time with Brown's Secret Service agent Xavier Collins, who discovers that his boss, President Cal Bradford (James Marsden), has been murdered in the very first episode ... but Samantha Redmond, a woman who goes by the name "Sinatra" and runs the bunker largely because she's the richest person who lives there, is also a very important character.

Sinatra is played by Julianne Nicholson, a Hollywood veteran who's been appearing in projects since she got her start in ABC drama "Nothing Sacred" in a one-episode role in 1997. Since then, Nicholson has appeared in everything from "Ally McBeal" to "Masters of Sex" to...

While some filmmakers, screenwriters, and actors are slowly embracing the AI revolution in Hollywood, Nicolas Cage has come out as a staunch supporter of the necessity of art made by real people. The actor, best known for his starring roles in hit films like Face/Off, Adaptation, The Rock, and, more recently, Dream Scenario, says that actors need to take a stand against the technology, and refuse to have their performances altered in the slightest by AI.

Over the weekend, Cage won the Saturn Award for Best Actor in a Film for A24's Dream Scenario, directed by Kristoffer Borgli. During his acceptance speech (via Variety), the beloved actor used the platform to take a stand against AI in filmmaking. "I am a big believer in not letting robots dream for us," said Cage. "Robots cannot reflect the human condition for us." Cage hopes more actors can rally behind him and defend the arts from AI.

A24 is an indie production company that has produced some of the most entertaining films since its creation in 2012. They have released many more films since and garnered numerous accolades along the way while attracting some of the most talented actors. However, some of their movies have gotten extreme praise just for their association with the A24 name.

Some of A24's films are not as impressive as they appear. Problems range from plots that go nowhere, mundane stories, or just not enough of a payoff in the final act. While A24 continues to make brilliant films, some of them are overrated.

Related Every A24 Movie Releasing in 2025 (& When)

A24 has a number of new movies on the horizon in 2025, including The Legend of Ochi, Death of a Unicorn, and more.

Dream Scenario Is a Trippy Movie With No Resolve

Dream Scenario follows Paul Matthews, a simple family man and...

A24 and Nicolas Cage proved to be a match made in heaven with their 2023 surreal comedy Dream Scenario. A24 is the auteur-driven studio best known for thought-provoking films like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Midsommar, and the actor with an eclectic resume ranging from Oscar-winning fare like Leaving Las Vegas and Adaptation to action classics like Con Air and Face-Off, were the perfect collaborators for writer/director Kristoffer Borgli's brilliant satire of celebrity culture.

Dream Scenario follows Paul Matthews, an unassuming professor living a mundane life with his wife and two daughters. Paul is a passive man, not particularly respected by his students, peers, or family, and he dreams of making a bigger impact. He unexpectedly gets his wish when random people worldwide begin having dreams about him. Initially, he basks in the attention and newfound fame this brings him, but they also come with unexpected, drastic consequences.

Since making his acting debut in 1982's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," Nicolas Cage has gone on to amass an astounding filmography that has never stopped evolving. He's admittedly made some baffling choices as an actor, starring in the infamously terrible "Deadfall" (which has a zero rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and the 2019 dud "Grand Isle," whose flaws have more to do with its storytelling than Cage's performance as a haunted war veteran. Really, we would be here all day if I were to list the scores of middling-to-awful straight-to-video flicks Cage has starred in, yet the actor never, ever phones it in and shows up to every role with an intensity that is tough to match.

Being one of those actors who shines brighter than ever when given layered, intriguing roles to work with, Cage has delivered several unforgettable performances worth rooting for. For starters, we have the lesser-known...

A24 and Regal Cinemas are teaming up for a special Halloween screenings event to usher in the spooky season. A24 presents 'An Eerie Series' exclusively at Regal Cinemas, with the event bringing several beloved horror hits back to the big screen throughout the month of October. A selection of A24 horror films will return to the big screen every Tuesday night, with the studio's frightening flicks being screened at a discounted price of $8. The movies returning to theaters include The Killing of a Sacred Deer, It Comes at Night, Hereditary, and more. Regal Cinemas announced the event, which will see several movies screen at over 100 Regal theaters across the country. Audiences can purchase tickets in advance or at theater box office kiosks. The Regal promotion reads:

"From suspenseful thrillers to psychological dramas, theres a title for every horror movie loverfor just $8 per ticket. Dont miss a single spine chilling or...

Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are in early negotiations to star in Kristoffer Borglis new project, titled The Drama. Plot details for the film are still being kept under wraps, but per Deadline, it's said to follow a couple whose relationship takes an unexpected turn right before their big day. Intriguing as it sounds, the premise has the potential to showcase Zendaya and Pattinsons acting chops.

Borgli previously directed the critically acclaimed dark comedy Dream Scenario. The 2023 film stars Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews, an evolutionary biology professor who inexplicably begins appearing in the dreams of strangers. As these appearances increase, he becomes a celebrity and is forced to grapple with the bizarre and unsettling consequences of his status. Dream Scenario received enormous praise for Cages performance and Borglis direction.

Dream Scenario 3/5 Not Yet RatedFantasySatire Release Date November 10, 2023Director Kristoffer BorgliCast Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula, Michael Cera,...

Nicolas Cage has turned around his film career in recent years, starring in more indie films. He was recently seen in one of the most terrifying films of the year, Longlegs. Cage earlier starred in Dream Scenario, which earned him a nomination at this year’s Golden Globes. Cage’s script selection has been receiving praise ever since the critical acclaim for 2018’s Mandy.

Nicolas Cage in a still from Pig | Neon

Cage revealed that his experiments with his roles usually scared the big studios, which pushed him to the indie film scene. The Moonstruck actor must have realized that his role as a melancholic truffle forager in Pig would’ve never sat well with these big studios.

Nicolas Cage Likes To Try Different Things Which Makes Indie Films A Better Option For Him Nicolas Cage in a still from Mandy | Rlje Films

Nicolas Cage‘s roles in his recent...

In the movie Dream Scenario, starring Nicholas Cage, a biology professor named Paul Matthews starts appearing in the nightmares of random people all over the country.

None of these people understand why, nor do they know anything about Paul beyond recognizing his unusual face -- which gives them flashbacks of the terrible dream.

Paul himself is perplexed because he has not intentionally done anything to these people, nor is he a Freddy Krueger-type monster who controls a higher plane of existence.

But when Paul becomes infamous for his cameo appearances in peoples' dreams, he begins to see scorn, fear, hatred, and eventually violence coming from people who hold him personally responsible for their nightmares.

As I finished Dream Scenario, I realized this is what some right-leaning celebrities must feel like.

The Magic of Offending People You've Never Met

They feel they have inadvertently "gone viral" and incited all sorts...

Here’s the true meaning behind Nicolas Cage’s recent A24 film Dream Scenario.

What Happens in Dream Scenario

Nicolas Cage plays Paul Matthews in Dream Scenario, a middle-aged man with a PhD in evolutionary biology who teaches at a college—even though he’d much rather be publishing an educational book about ants. At home, he has a wife and two children.

Read full article on The Direct.

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Quick Answers: Viewers can stream Dream Scenario online with a subscription to Max, or Amazon Prime users can rent the movie on-demand with Prime Video.

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Enter the surreal realm of Dream Scenario, a captivating comedy-horror film that has enchanted audiences with its offbeat premise and stellar cast. Directed by Kristoffer Borgli and featuring the legendary Nicolas Cage in the lead role, this cinematic gem premiered...

It’s an interesting month on HBO and Max this March, as two acclaimed films hit the streamer along with some intriguing original programming.

First up in the movies arena is the streaming debut of Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet. From beloved Paddington director Paul King, the film follows the adventures of a young Willy Wonka as he looks to become the world’s best (and weirdest) chocolatier. Later in March on Max, there’s also Dream Scenario, a highly-regarded comedy boasting Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews, who suddenly starts appearing in people’s dreams for unknown reasons, and who naturally becomes very famous as a result of this strange phenomena.

Series-wise, the biggest show on Max this month is The Regime. It packs a solid cast, including Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, and Hugh Grant, and tells the story of “life within the walls of a modern...

With a premiere-heavy March ahead at HBO, there will be plenty to stream this month on Max!

The first Sunday of March brings the premiere of HBO’s new six-episode limited series “The Regime,” starring HBO alum Kate Winslet. Throughout the rest of the month, don’t rest on the streamer’s long list of library additions, like the recent musical origin story “Wonka” or A24’s sleeper hit (so to speak) “Dream Scenario”; and be sure some of the HBO’s biggest premieres, including “The Girls on the Bus” starring Melissa Benoist and Ramy Youssef’s “More Feelings” make it onto your calendar.

Plus, there’s no March without March Madness! For the first time, Max will stream all of the 2024 [NCAA] Division Men’s Basketball Championship live games and studio coverage airing on TBS, TNT, and truTV, including the NCAA Men’s Final Four National Semifinals and Men’s National Championship.

Nicolas Cage's movie Dream Scenario is coming to streaming on March 15, 2024. Fans can finally enjoy the fantasy comedy from the comfort of their own homes. After a 2023 theatrical run, Cage's Dream Scenario is ready for its streaming debut.

Nicolas Cage's critically acclaimed 2023 fantasy comedy movie Dream Scenario finally gets a streaming release date. The ever-busy Cage wrapped up his 2023 with his best film of the year, an offbeat, dark comedy about a mild-mannered college professor who mysteriously begins showing up in people’s dreams, and becomes a worldwide sensation. Released last November, the movie delighted critics to the tune of a 91% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while pulling in a respectable $8.7 million at the specialty box office.

Now home audiences can enjoy Cage’s strange A24 movie Dream Scenario, as Max has set a March 15, 2024 streaming release date for the film (via Collider).

Dream Scenario Is Cage’s...

This famed director recently praised Nicolas Cage's latest film performance.

Taking to his Instagram, legendary director Francis Ford Coppola gave a shout-out to his nephew, Nicolas Cage. Posting a photo of Cage in his latest film, Dream Scenario, Coppola beamed: "My nephew Nicolas always pulls a wonderful performance out of his hat, even as a little kid he could imitate a computer. His work in Michael Sarnoski’s Pig and his most recent performance in Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario is beyond an old Uncle's praise." The heartwarming message found its way on to several social media platforms, with film buffs and fans alike sharing the sweet sentiment.

Related Dream Scenario's Kristoffer Borgli Talks Genre-Bending, Modernity, and Nic Cage Kristoffer Borgli's latest film, Dream Scenario, puts Nicolas Cage in a dream scenario that soon becomes a nightmare. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Francis Ford Coppola...

Even by Nicolas Cage’s standards, Dream Scenario is a strange movie — but mostly in that there is nothing at all unusual about the character he plays. A mediocre biologist whose research is routinely stolen by other scientists, Paul Matthews becomes famous overnight when he starts appearing in other people’s dreams. How and why is never explained, but Kristoffer Borgli’s surreal satire has a lot to say about today’s social media-driven society. Speaking from his home in Las Vegas (“The more romantic way of saying it is: I’m in the Mojave Desert”), the actor explains how he saw himself in this most unlikely premise.

Deadline: So, we’re talking about Dream Scenario. How did that project come to you?

Nicolas Cage: What happened was, I had been communicating via email with Ari Aster, and he had heard that I’d wanted to work with him...

Nicolas Cage appears in everyone’s dreams in, er, Dream Scenario. It’s coming to DVD and Blu-ray in March! More here:

It’ll be a sad day when Nicolas Cage eventually retires from acting. Thankfully, that day is still (hopefully) far away, given that Cage said last December that has at least another three or four films left in him.

He made those comments during the press tour for Dream Scenario, a film that follows a man who becomes an overnight celebrity, quite literally, after he pops up in everyone’s dreams.

The film was written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli and released in UK cinemas in November. Backed by A24 and produced by Ari Aster, Dream Scenario received positive reviews from critics and many hailed the film as some of Cage’s best work in years.

If you missed the film on its theatrical run, there’s good...

Nicolas Cage's movie Dream Scenario is now available to watch on VOD platforms following its limited theatrical release. Dream Scenario received positive reviews from critics, with a 91% score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Cage's best-reviewed movie of the year. The film explores unique themes and features strong performances from the cast, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Cage.

Nicolas Cage’s acclaimed 2023 movie Dream Scenario is now available to watch on VOD. Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, it follows Paul Matthews, an ordinary middle-aged man whose regular life takes a turn when he mysteriously begins to appear in people's dreams. Dream Scenario also stars Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, and Tim Meadows, and it was well received upon its limited theatrical release in November. It holds a 91% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it Cage's best-reviewed movie of the year.

Now, according to JoBlo, following Dream Scenario’s initial release in theaters,...

A24 gave the surreal comedy Dream Scenario (JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray gave the film a 7/10 review you can read Here) a theatrical release in early November, but if you missed it during its big screen run, we have some good news to share with you today: you can now watch Dream Scenario in the comfort of your own home! The film has received a PVOD release and is available for rent or purchase on Amazon at This Link.

Directed by Kristoffer Borgli from his own screenplay, Dream Scenario was produced by Hereditary, Midsommar, and Beau Is Afraid director Ari Aster and stars the legendary Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews, a hapless family man who finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom.

Cage...

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Dream Scenario, A24’s surreal dark comedy from Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli that plays off Nicolas Cage’s decades-long permeation of the imagination.

In the buzzy Toronto Film Festival title produced by Square Peg — the banner of Hereditary and Beau Is Afraid helmer Ari Aster — Cage stars as Paul Matthews, an ordinary biology professor whose life takes an unexpected turn when he starts appearing in the dreams of people worldwide. Initially amused by the situation, Paul’s attitude later becomes one of horror and frustration, as peoples’ dreams of him turn into nightmares, and he’s ostracized by the public for actions taken only in their minds.

Dream Scenario marks the English-language debut of the Oslo-born Borgli, who broke out with his Cannes-premiering 2022 dark comedy Sick of Myself. In a September appearance at Deadline’s Toronto Studio,...

Oscar-winner took part in an In Conversation event at the Red Sea Film Festival

Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage took part in an In Conversation event at the Red Sea Film Festival ahead of the Mena premiere of his latest film, horror comedy Dream Scenario, at a gala screening at Jeddah’s Ritz-Carlton Theatre on December 9.

During the conversation, in which he reflected on his 43-year career, Cage said that after starring in more than 100 films - including Leaving Las Vegas, for which he won as Oscar in 1996, Raising Arizona, Con Air and the recent Renfield - he is now considering making a move to TV.

Nicolas Cage did not know writer-director Kristoffer Borgli from Adam when he opened the first page of Dream Scenario. A Norwegian filmmaker with only one other feature under his belt—2022’s Sick of Myself, which also is in Norwegian—Borgli is an exceedingly new voice in cinema, but one Cage was keyed into recognizing as promising because the screenplay had been sent by Ari Aster. As it turns out, the director behind Hereditary and Midsommar was producing this mysterious new dark comedy called Dream Scenario, and he thought Cage would respond to a story about a mild mannered college professor who one day discovers everyone in the world is dreaming about him.

Cage couldn’t put it down. Despite the project being an intensely surrealist comedy wherein our hero, Paul Matthews, learns his daughters, his students, and even folks on the other side of the Atlantic are dreaming of him—be it as a goof,...

In recent years few entertainment companies have been on a hotter streak than A24. The groundbreaking studio is responsible for boundary-pushing titles like “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “The Whale,” “Moonlight,” “Room,” “Minari,” “Lady Bird,” and “Eighth Grade.” Now, those films are going to have a new home with the Warner Bros. Discovery properties Max, HBO, and Cinemax.

7-Day Free Trial $9.99+ / month Max via amazon.com

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Warner Bros. Discovery and A24 just inked a deal for several years, meaning that the Wbd properties will host the A24 films first after their sale and rental window.

Here’s a look at some of the upcoming titles as part of the deal:

Dicks: The Musical October 6, 2023

Two self-obsessed businessmen discover they’re long-lost identical twins and come together to plot the reunion of their eccentric divorced parents.

Priscilla October 27, 2023

When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu...

Today, the HBO and Max brands announced a multiyear deal with A24 that brings the award-winning entertainment company’s theatrical film slate exclusively to Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO, Max and Cinemax.

Among the films to be available under the new deal are Dream Scenario and the upcoming horror film Love Lies Bleeding from Saint Maud director Rose Glass.

No streaming dates have been announced just yet.

Dream Scenario, produced by Ari Aster and starring Nicolas Cage, offers up a nightmare comedy. In the film: “A hapless family man Paul Matthews (Cage) finds his life turned upside down when millions of strangers suddenly start seeing him in their dreams. But when his nighttime appearances take a nightmarish turn, Paul is forced to navigate his newfound stardom.”

As for Love Lies Bleeding, the Kristen Stewart-starring horror film “from Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie,...

Meme culture is an essential part of internet culture and has become a universal language in modern communication. Meme theory, developed by Richard Dawkins, suggests that memes spread rapidly, similar to the replication of DNA, and become influential aspects of our lived experiences. In the film Dream Scenario, meme culture is metaphorically tied to collective dreams and the collective unconscious, reinforcing cultural narratives and character archetypes.

As the essential building block to internet culture, the meme has helped evolve modern communication as a verifiable universal language. Etymologically deriving from the word gene, the origins of “meme” have roots in evolutionary biology and long predate any concept of the internet. Meme culture, as Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario suggests, is inexplicably linked to the way we process the world. Like the movies we watch or the songs we listen to, memes become inseparable aspects of our lived experience, as influential as...

(L-r) Nicolas Cage in Dream Scenario. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs. Courtesy of A24

Dream Scenario is more of a nightmare for Nicholas Cage’s character, in this darkest of comedies from Norwegian writer/director Kristoffer Borgli, a social satire commenting on the power and irrational nature of social media. While Cage’s character is not having a good day, actor Nicholas Cage looks like he is having a grand old time, relishing this role as a hapless guy at the center of this outside-the-mainstream dark comedy.

Like his role as a backwoods recluse in Pig, Cage is anything but prettied up for this part, playing an aging, balding professor whose ordinary guy life is upended when random people start seeing him in their dreams.

At first, Cage’s middle-aged academic is sort of flattered by the attention, although he has done nothing to cause his dream appearances. The biology professor...

This article contains minor Dream Scenario spoilers.

The most remarkable thing about Professor Paul Matthews is how unremarkable he is. The latest addition to Nicolas Cage’s oeuvre of oddballs and nuts is, in fact, impressively forgettable. So what makes him so curiously haunting after you’ve seen Dream Scenario? Cage himself is obviously a major factor. With a frequently perspiring bald cap around the temples, hunched shoulders, and a twitchy gaze that betrays the desperation of a lonely child in a middle-aged body, the veteran thespian has built a darkly amusing portrait of neediness which walks right up to the fine border between character and caricature, and gives it a frantic, pleading wave.

It’s a brilliant creation, and it is implemented in one of the cruelest comedies of the last couple of years. Because in spite of Paul Matthews’ lack of distinction, he is the man of your dreams…...

Chicago – Nicolas Cage makes a welcome return to Charlie Kaufman-like mind bending drama in “Dream Scenario.” He stars as Paul Matthews, a bald and schlubby college professor always clad in an ever present winter coat. His unremarkable life takes a turn when he mysteriously begins appearing in millions of people’s dreams.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

He’s got a wife and two teen daughters, and makes a good living but hasn’t achieved the level of respect and credit he believes he deserves. Cage’s Professor Paul sees himself as a genius, albeit one with a dad bod and no hair. The rest of the world doesn’t pay him much mind at all, and if they do he’s usually welcomed with the kind of lack of enthusiasm usually reserved for tax lawyers.

”Dream Scenario” is in theaters November 17th. Featuring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Tim Meadows, Lily Bird and Dylan Baker.

Kristoffer Borgli has been making films for a while now, steadily developing a voice that pulls from the zeitgeist but transmutes the findings into something distinctive and often very funny. His latest film, Dream Scenario, places Nicolas Cage in the role of Paul Matthews, a painfully plain college professor who finds himself the center of attention when he starts appearing in people's dreams.

Before long, the cultural machine that grants 15 minutes of fame turns on Paul, and things only get worse. One of Borgli's greatest strengths as a writer/director is that he takes a premise that could serve as the basis of a sketch and stretches the proceedings so that no stone is left unturned. This commitment to the fantastical and placing the absurd within the ordinary has yielded a remarkable array of shorts, music videos, documentaries, features, and other works that viewers should seek.

In an interview with Cbr,...

Plot: A mild-mannered academic (Nicolas Cage) discovers that he’s the center of a strange phenomenon, with people worldwide suddenly seeing him in their dreams. At first, thrilled with the attention and sudden fame, he finds himself despised and “cancelled” when the dreams turn violent.

Review: Dream Scenario is a very “now” movie, with it a blazing satire of sudden fame and “cancel culture,” with director Kristoffer Borgli showing utter contempt for both. It’s the perfect vehicle for Nicolas Cage, as perhaps more than any actor, his likeness has been commodified over the years, being used and manipulated in meme after meme in a way that’s totally out of his control.

Likewise, his character, Paul Matthews, has no control over how people view him. Sporting a bald pate, a beard and the kind of nasal voice he used in Peggy Sue Got Married, Cage fully inhabits the role...

Nicolas Cage's latest film, Dream Scenario, has the potential to be one of the best titles in the actor's career, with a score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes so far. Cage's previous movies this year received mixed reviews, but Dream Scenario may save his year with its critical success. The film follows the story of a family man who becomes famous when he starts appearing in other people's dreams, but things take a dark turn, making fame a burden.

Nicolas Cage stars in Dream Scenario, Kristoffer Borgli's latest film, and it looks like it could become one of the best titles in the ever-popular actor's career.

Cage made his acting debut on television under the name Nicolas Coppola in the series The Best of Times in 1981. In 1982, he made the leap to the big screen with Fast Times at Ridgemont High and in the following four decades he...

Nicolas Cage is the most meta of modern actors. There are exceptions (most recently his heartbreaking work in Michael Sarnoski's "Pig"), but, for better or worse, we are almost always aware that we are watching a Cage performance. This isn't a new development. He's been an emoting machine dating back to Francis Ford Coppola's "Peggy Sue Got Married," and won a Best Actor Oscar for his Ray-Milland-on-steroids portrayal of an alcoholic in "Leaving Las Vegas."

As much as we love Cage going full Cage, those "Pig" roles are vital to his appeal as an actor. They remind us that he is a thoughtful, deeply intuitive performer capable of drawing us into the world of introverts and quietly damaged people. Kristoffer Borgli's dark comedy "Dream Scenario" is one such film -- to a point. Cage plays Paul Matthews, a mild-mannered biology professor who inexplicably begins appearing in the...

Nicolas Cage's character in Dream Scenario experiences both the positive and negative sides of fame, much like Cage himself in his acting career. The movie highlights the ups and downs of fame, showing how recognition and praise can be satisfying but also how fame can come with a price. Fame is not always easy to handle, and it can have negative effects on personal relationships. Paul, the main character, loses his family and struggles to navigate the negativity that comes with his newfound stardom. The film serves as a deeper message about the challenges of fame.

Nicolas Cage is back with a brand-new film. This time, it is an A24 dark comedy directed by Kristoffer Borgli and produced by Ari Aster. The movie is called Dream Scenario, and Cage plays Paul Matthews, a college biology professor who suddenly appears in people's dreams. It gains him unexpected fame that is not unwelcome to him.

Nicolas Cage's new movie Dream Scenario receives one of the highest Rotten Tomatoes scores of his career, currently standing at 90% on 105 reviews. The film showcases Cage's strong performance, whimsical premise, and comedic quality, reminiscent of his acclaimed film Adaptation. Dream Scenario saves Cage's otherwise lackluster 2023, outperforming his other films of the year by a wide margin and potentially ranking among his best work.

Nicolas Cage’s new movie Dream Scenario lands one of the highest Rotten Tomatoes scores of the actor’s 42-year career. The prolific Cage has already enjoyed an eclectic 2023, starring in the somber Western The Old Way, the outrageous horror-comedy Renfield, the pulse-pounding thriller Sympathy for the Devil and the wacky action movie The Retirement Plan. In his fifth film of the year, the star plays a biology professor who begins mysteriously appearing in the dreams of other people, becoming an unlikely celebrity as a result of the bizarre phenomenon.

Dream Scenario, the latest Nicolas Cage vehicle worthy of theatrical viewership, features the actor as Paul Matthews, a tenured professor whose quiet work in ant studies goes unnoticed by the world and those within his immediate academic circle. To say that Paul's life is a disappointment is a disservice to the many simple things he has going for him; it's just very bland. One day, however, he finds himself at the center of social media and local news attention for appearing in people's dreams. Unsure of the cause but willing to use the opportunity to boost his profile, Paul sets about on a comic romp, though tinged with deep sadness, through a defamiliarized version of modern living.

Written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself), Dream Scenario is a wily and unpredictable patchwork film that pulls from many disparate influences to create a vividly realized adjacent reality that feels...

Stars: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Nicholson, Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula, Dylan Baker | Written and Directed by Kristoffer Borgli

Nicolas Cage delivers one of his best performances in the fantasy black comedy Dream Scenario, from Norwegian writer-director Kristoffer Borgli, which takes savage satirical swipes at viral fame and cancel culture. It also serves as a thematic follow-up to Borgli’s previous film, Sick of Myself, a superb arthouse horror which dealt with extreme narcissism and the pursuit of fame at any cost.

Cage plays boring, middle-aged college professor Paul Matthews, whose efforts in the field of evolutionary biology haven’t led to the sort of recognition he had hoped for, partly due to his own laziness in actually getting around to writing a book. At home, he’s supported by his understanding wife, Janet (Julianne Nicholson), though he’s all but ignored by his two teenage daughters (Lily Bird and...

A man of great skill in his field suddenly begins to lose control of his image as people co-opt his likeness and rip it out of context. The icon begins to outstrip the individual, complicating his ability to gain recognition for the work he wants to be known. That’s the tragedy of Paul Matthews in Dream Scenario, and it resounds all the more because it contains echoes of the journey undergone by the actor who brings him to life: Nicolas Cage.

The phenomenon of Cage as meme is but one of many contemporary cultural forces bottled up by writer-director Kristoffer Borgli in his genre-bending new film. Dream Scenario follows fast on the heels of the Norwegian filmmaker’s international breakout, Sick of Myself, another examination of how online pressures guide real-world behaviors. Borgli has a knack for realizing his observations through extended displays of emotional humiliation and bodily mortification,...

If dreams could predict the future, Nicolas Cage and film team should be toasting awards success with Dream Scenario for its on-point and absurdly funny representation of the subconscious mind, fame and social media and cancel culture.

Like the random firings of neurons that form dream scenarios, this compelling collective tale of utter ‘ordinariness’ escalating into extreme ‘extraordinariness’ follows unremarkable, middle-aged Professor Paul Matthews (Cage) as he navigates appearing in people’s dreams like some divine intervention, from family to total strangers.

The film opens with Matthews raking leaves by a swimming pool, simply observing, as chaos swirls all around him. In reality, the scholar lives a quiet, modest life and is happily married with two daughters. However, the mediocre-achieving biologist has one nagging regret that he missed his chance of academic notoriety with his ‘ant-elligence’, a theory that is then robbed before his very eyes.

Feeling helpless and dejected,...

The actor plays a dull academic whose image somehow arrives in millions of sleeping minds in a combination of Freddy Krueger and Leonard Zelig

Nicolas Cage has perhaps never been Nicolas Cagier in what could be his Nicolas Cagiest performance ever. This is a surreal fantasy-satire about the unsafe space of social media and the nature of viral fame, something to be aspired to – or dreamed of – by everyone: the democratised and accessible stardom that can happen to anyone, despite or in some way because of their lack of achievement. This kind of fame can be alchemised from ordinariness, a fame produced and consumed on smartphones and capable of getting inside people’s heads because they can imagine, in fact want to imagine, the same thing happening to them.

Cage plays Professor Paul Matthews, an academic with a decent but unexciting career lecturing on biology and how animals evolve to...

Photo: A24 For children of the ’70s and ’80s, it’s great to see Talking Heads getting a moment in the sun again. From Spike Lee directing David Byrne to Miley Cyrus having him on her New Year special, and Stop Making Sense doing the Imax rounds, it feels like...

Photo: A24

For children of the ’70s and ’80s, it’s great to see Talking Heads getting a moment in the sun again. From Spike Lee directing David Byrne to Miley Cyrus having him on her New Year special, and Stop Making Sense doing the Imax rounds, it feels like...

Popular actor Nicolas Cage recently expressed his frustration and difficulty at seeing his work become a viral meme.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Cage described coming to terms with his work becoming a meme, as well as his eventual disappointment that more critical discourse didn't materialize from it. "I might have been the first actor who went through a kind of meme-ification," Cage said. "One person had cherrypicked from all these different movies where I was having meltdowns, but without any regard for how the character got to that place. I was frustrated because I didn’t know what people were taking from the movies other than that." Perhaps the best example of this cherry-picking without acknowledgment of his work is the "Nicholas Cage Freak-Out Montage" on YouTube, which spells his name wrong and has over 1.6 million views.

How a Nicolas Cage Viral Video Led to His Next...

Dream Scenario is a satirical film that explores the dark side of fame and cancel culture through the story of an average man who becomes the center of attention when strangers all over the world start dreaming about him. The film examines how the protagonist, Paul, initially enjoys the newfound attention but soon faces the consequences of being seen as a monster in people's nightmares. It comments on cancel culture and raises questions about the fairness of Paul's "cancelation" for something he didn't actively do. Despite some muddiness in its commentary on cancel culture, Dream Scenario shines through strong lead performances by Nicolas Cage and Julianne Nicholson.

Dreams have an interesting place in cinema. The very nature of dreams is that they are self-made narratives written by the subconscious. They can represent many facets of the human experience. A Nightmare on Elm Street makes them the playground for our deadliest fears made manifest.

Nicolas Cage could relate to going viral like his character Paul Matthews in 'Dream Scenario'.The 59-year-old star features in the new movie as a biology professor who attracts attention online after featuring in the dreams of other people and drew parallels with the "memefication" of his acting work.Speaking to Digital Spy, Nicolas said: "He's going through something that I felt I could relate to. I had gone through something with the internet."I might have been the first actor who experienced a kind of memefication where my scenes that were specifically designed to have meltdowns or nervous breakdowns had been cherry picked in such a way that it would just (be) meltdown after meltdown after meltdown without any linear narrative or without any chapter or act to lead up to."Then I saw it go viral and I saw it grow exponentially, compounding on itself into memes and t-shirts and what not,...

Hollywood star Nicolas Cage may have found himself at the center of viral memes that constantly flood social media, but that was not what he ever intended to do. In a recent interview with The Guardian, the Oscar-winning actor said that he initially “didn’t understand how to process what was happening” with all the memes and video mashups of him and the characters he had played for projects.

“I got into acting because I was moved by film performance more than any other art form. I didn’t get into movies to become a meme. That was new. I made friends with it but it was an adjustment,” he said.

“I thought maybe they would compel someone to go back and look at the movies. But I had no control over it. The same thing happens with Paul in ‘Dream Scenario’ he has no control over this inexplicable phenomenon.

Hollywood star Nicolas Cage may have found himself at the center of viral memes that constantly flood social media, but that was not what he ever intended to do. In a recent interview with The Guardian, the Oscar-winning actor said that he initially “didn’t understand how to process what was happening” with all the memes and video mashups of him and the characters he had played for projects.

“I got into acting because I was moved by film performance more than any other art form. I didn’t get into movies to become a meme. That was new. I made friends with it but it was an adjustment,” he said.

“I thought maybe they would compel someone to go back and look at the movies. But I had no control over it. The same thing happens with Paul in ‘Dream Scenario’ he has no control over this inexplicable phenomenon.

Nicolas Cage may have found himself at the center of viral memes that constantly flood social media, but that was not what he ever intended to do.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, to promote A24’s upcoming film Dream Scenario, the Oscar-winning actor admitted that he initially “didn’t understand how to process what was happening” with all the memes and video mashups of him and the characters he had played for projects.

“I got into acting because I was moved by film performance more than any other art form. I didn’t get into movies to become a meme. That was new. I made friends with it but it was an adjustment,” he said. “I thought maybe they would compel someone to go back and look at the movies. But I had no control over it. The same thing happens with Paul in Dream Scenario: he...

Dream Scenario is a zany and imaginative film that explores fame, cancel culture, masculinity, and anxiety-driven impotence. The film centers around Paul Matthews, a tenured professor who becomes a celebrity after appearing in people's dreams, but things take a dark turn when he starts appearing as an aggressor. While the final third of the film doesn't fully explore the themes of corporate-funded celebrity and fallout, Dream Scenario is still a thought-provoking and engaging film with a layered performance from Nicolas Cage.

Writer-director Kristoffer Borgli delivers a zany, evocative film that examines the price of fame, cancel culture, masculinity, and anxiety-driven impotence. Dream Scenario starts off as a series of comedic events that grow dark over the course of the film. And while the tonal shift doesn’t fully work, and the final third barely scratches the surface of corporate-funded celebrity and fallout, Dream Scenario boasts a layered performance from Nicolas Cage,...

Despite initially considering Adam Sandler for the role, writer/director Kristoffer Borgli admits that it's impossible to unsee Nicolas Cage in the lead of Dream Scenario. Cage's choices add a mesmerizing and artistic layer to the movie while channeling his own personal experiences. Adam Sandler's recent career ventures into thriller and drama genres, such as Uncut Gems and Hustle, show his potential to fit well in Dream Scenario's blend of comedic and dramatic tones. However, Cage's casting aligns better with the director's intentions for the film, especially given his enthusiasm for exploring the "memeification" of his own career. While Sandler's involvement could have resulted in a different movie, Cage's presence brings a unique energy to the surreal and nightmarish aspects of Dream Scenario, fitting into his repertoire of genre-blending performances. With the success of his recent projects, the film promises to be another exciting chapter in Cage's ongoing resurgence.