Cannes: Nicolas Cage to Hit the Beach in Psychological Thriller ‘The Surfer’ for Mossbank (Exclusive)

Cage is hitting the beach!

Having recently saddled up for his first Western, Nicolas Cage looks set to ride some waves for the first time on screen, having been cast to lead elevated psychological thriller The Surfer from director Lorcan Finnegan (Vivarium, Nocebo) and screenwriter Thomas Martin.

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Mossbank, the partnership between Sculptor Media and Raven and headed by Michael Rothstein and Sam Hall, is handling international sales and introducing The Surfer to buyers at the Cannes Market. Domestic sales will be repped by WME Independent.

In The Surfer, when a man (Cage) returns to his beachside hometown in Australia, many years since building a life for himself in the U.S., he is humiliated in front of his teenage son by a local gang of surfers who claim strict ownership over the secluded beach of his childhood. Wounded, “The Surfer” decides to remain at the beach, declaring war against those in control of the bay. But as the conflict escalates, the stakes spin wildly out of control, taking “The Surfer” to the edge of his sanity.

Producing the film are Robert Connolly of Australian banner Arenamedia (The Dry, Emily, Sweet As), and Leonora Darby, James Harris and Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions (Fall, He Went That Way, Bull, A Banquet and upcoming The Wasp, The Cut and Tornado). Nathan Klingher (Blood for Dust, Land of Bad) is also producing alongside executive producers Apur Parikh, Josh Harris, Ford Corbett and Mark Fasano of Gramercy Park Media. Michael Rothstein and Sam Hall are executive producing for Mossbank.

“We’re incredibly excited to be working with Lorcan, Thomas, Arenamedia and Tea Shop on such a visceral and unique thriller,” said Mossbank’s Hall. “Nicolas Cage is the perfect actor for this iconic role and will undoubtedly deliver a tour de force performance which is sure to be something very special and will captivate audiences worldwide.”

Principal photography on The Surfer is slated to commence in September 2023 in Australia.

Cage — whose films have grossed more than $6.3 billion globally — is represented by WME and Stride Management. Finnegan is represented by Independent Talent Group and XYZ Management. Martin is represented by Curtis Brown.

In addition to The Surfer, Mossbank’s slate includes action-thriller The Fisherwoman starring Oscar-winner Emma Thompson; crime thriller Thug, starring Liam Neeson and directed by Hans Petter Moland; Elevation, the post-apocalyptic action thriller starring Anthony Mackie and directed by George Nolfi; heist action film Just Watch Me starring Gerard Butler, written by Derek Kolstad, based on the book by Jeff Lindsay, and the horror film Azrael starring Samara Weaving.

Mossbank is a partnership between Raven and Sculptor Media, whose latest movie Black Flies starring Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan is world premiering in Cannes.

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