Summary
- Nicolas Cage goes bald and wild as a buffalo-hunting maniac in Butcher's Crossing, a new western movie based on a 1960 novel.
- Directed by Gabe Polsky, the film marks his narrative feature debut and also stars Fred Hechinger, Jeremy Bobb, Xander Berkeley, Rachel Keller, and Paul Raci.
- The first official trailer for Butcher's Crossing has been released by Saban Films, showcasing Cage's portrayal of an obsessive hunter on a buffalo-hunting expedition.
Nicolas Cage goes bald as a buffalo-hunting maniac in the first trailer for Butcher's Crossing. Directed by Gabe Polsky in his narrative feature film debut, Butcher's Crossing is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by John Edward Williams. The cast also includes The White Lotus season 1 star Fred Hechinger, Jeremy Bobb, Xander Berkeley, Rachel Keller, and the Oscar-nominated Paul Raci.
On Monday, Saban Films released the first official trailer for Butcher's Crossing. Watch it below:
The trailer follows Hechinger as a young Harvard dropout who heads west to embark on an ambitious buffalo hunt with an obsessive hunter named Miller, played by Cage. Over the course of the hunt, Miller kills more buffalo than they can skin and becomes increasingly unhinged.
What To Know About Butcher's Crossing
Based on both the first look at Butcher's Crossing which revealed Nicolas Cage's shaved head, and the new trailer, it appears the Western will be another wild and wacky role for the actor. For the character's shaved head, Cage took inspiration from a rather unexpected source, Michael Jordan, and perhaps a more expected one, Marlon Brando's Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. Featuring another enigmatic performance from Cage, the result should be a harrowing Western that explores the nature of ambition which, according to the director, has been a destructive force over the course of American history.
Though Butcher's Crossing won't be released in theaters until October 20, the film already premiered at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this month to generally favorable reviews, resulting in a 72 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. Many agree the film is a solid Western that should attract attention because of its lead star, though it largely fails to wrestle with the deep philosophical ideas present in the source material. As highlighted by the Butcher's Crossing trailer, critics have also called the film "a new Western masterpiece," "gorgeously shot," "undeniably satisfying," and "a journey into hell."
Source: Saban Films
