Trespass, a drama from Millennium Films, starring Cage and directed by Joel Schumacher, was due to start shooting later this month in Louisiana.

Deadline reports that although Schumacher and Millennium Films are still planning to forge ahead, it will be without the services of their intended star.

The word is that although Cage was locked into a $7m deal, he abruptly withdrew late last week and promptly went off on holiday. Cage and Nicole Kidman were originally cast as a married couple who are taken hostage, however a couple of weeks ago Cage asked to switch to the role of the leader of the kidnappers, presumably feeling it to be the juicier role. Liev Schreiber has since been discussed as a possible replacement for the role of the husband, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Slash Film have speculated as to what Cage’s withdrawal might mean for the future of the project, given the box office draw that he represents. Although his output has been a little hit and miss lately (for every Bad Lieutenant there’s a Wicker Man), he is still a big name and would assure at the very least a strong opening weekend for the film.

Deadline have updated the story, quoting an inside source stating that subject to recasting filming would proceed as scheduled. The full impact of Cage’s withdrawal remains to be seen.

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Dave has been writing for HeyUGuys since mid-2010 and has found them to be the most intelligent, friendly, erudite and insightful bunch of film fans you could hope to work with. He's gone from ham-fisted attempts at writing the news to interviewing Lawrence Bender, Renny Harlin and Julian Glover, to writing articles about things he loves that people have actually read. He has fairly broad tastes as far as films are concerned, though given the choice he's likely to go for Con Air over Battleship Potemkin most days. He's pretty sure that 2001: A Space Odyssey is the most overrated mess in cinematic history.