Elysian Film Group announces PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND, the samurai western action film directed by Sion Sono (Love Exposure, Why Don't You Play in Hell?) starring Nicolas Cage (Face/Off, Leaving Las Vegas), Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), Nick Cassavetes (Face/Off) and Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses), Tak Sakaguchi and Yuzuka Nakaya will be released in UK cinemas and on digital platforms on 17 September. The UK premiere will take place at FrightFest on 28 August. Watch the trailer at the link above.
Described by legendary actor Nicolas Cage as 'the wildest movie I've ever made' PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND is a high-octane, post-apocalyptic tale of redemption and uprising that marks celebrated Japanese director Sion Sono's first English-language film.
In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman - and his own path to redemption.
"There is a sweet spot between deadly serious and completely ridiculous that is enticing to us as storytellers" explain writers of the script, Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai, who were inspired by the world of high intensity and surprising absurdity found in the cherished action and horror films of their youth, films such as The Wild Bunch, Road Warrior, Evil Dead, Conan The Barbarian, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
The rollercoaster adventure of PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND alludes to serious themes including the ugly spectre of 80's atomic power but never takes itself too seriously. Embracing this marriage of the profound and the absurd, the eclectic and irreverent Japanese director Sion Sono proved the perfect collaborator. Henry and Safai recall "When Sion came onto the film, the influence of his experience, artistry, and culture pumped psychedelic steroids into each of these early notions that gave birth to the initial script."
