Anyone remember the 2005 movie Lord of War? It starred Nicolas Cage as an amoral weapons dealer who gets embroiled in various conflicts involving African and former Soviet countries. Well, now it’s getting a sequel seemingly out of nowhere. Andre Niccol is back, writing and directing the sequel Lords of War, starring Cage and Bill Skarsgård. In the film which premieres January 22, we meet Anton (Skarsgård), the newfound son of Cage’s Yuri Orlov. Check out the teaser below.
Niccol tells Variety “as a storyteller, I always felt there was so much more to explore with the ‘merchant of death’.” And 20 years later he’s continuing Yuri’s story through a fierce father-son rivalry. Anton wishes to outperform his father in weapons sales while building a private army to fight in the Middle East.
Starring alongside Cage in the 2005 film was Jared Leto, Ethan Hawke, and Bridget Moynahan. While Cage is the only one returning, there’s nothing the Lord of War can’t handle.
The original film follows Yuri, as he becomes a successful but morally corrupt international arms dealer. Growing up witnessing Russian mafia shoot outs in his neighborhood he decides selling weapons will lead him to wealth.
He partners with his younger brother, Vitaly (Jared Leto), they bring down the Soviet Union purchasing abandoned military hardware smuggling it to global conflict zones. Gaining power across the world Yuri uses blood money to win over supermodel Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan), but she doesn’t know about the true nature of his business. Continuing to put money over his family he loses his brother and his wife simultaneously.
The teaser showcases bigger action and higher stakes, I doubt Yuri lets up on his son. We’ll find out how Yuri takes action in 2027, because as he puts it “evil prevails when good men fail to act.”
Even though Yuri was caught by a U.S. Interpol agent, the arrest doesn’t stand. The government deems him a “necessary evil” because his clientele shares enemies with the United States. While Yuri is a free man, he’s a man without a soul, taking on the Lord of War persona.
Before officially confirming the project, Cage praised Niccol’s scripts to Playlist, “they’re always very complex and well-thought-out and kind of intellectual, which is what he is.” Producing the sequel alongside Niccol for Saturn Films, Cage remains excited. “I’m very much supporting and is fascinating from an Arthurian, almost kind of storytelling aspect, where the son becomes the lead gunrunner.”