Nicolas Cage's 2010s Fantasy Box Office Flop Was Meant To Kickstart A Disney Franchise

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Disney is the king of franchise filmmaking in Hollywood. From the Marvel Cinematic Universe to live-action remakes of animated classics, the House of Mouse excels in this area. Then there's Nicolas Cage, the king of being unhinged for our collective cinematic pleasure. The two titans teamed up for a big, epic fantasy movie in 2010 that was meant to kickstart another franchise. And while Cage brought a bit of his own magic to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," it wound up being a sizable flop.

The movie centers on Balthazar Blake (Cage), a modern-day sorcerer with his hands full defending Manhattan against dark forces. When a seemingly average kid named Dave (Jay Baruchel) shows hidden potential, Balthazar takes his reluctant recruit on a crash course in the art and science of magic to become the ultimate sorcerer's apprentice. The cast also includes the likes of Alfred Molina ("Spider-Man 2"), Teresa Palmer ("Wolf Creek"), and Toby Kebbell ("Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time").

Jon Turtletaub stepped into the director's chair, making it a reunion for Cage at Disney. Turtletaub previously directed "National Treasure," which was almost too out there for Cage but became a big hit. On paper, things seemed to be lining up.

According to a 2010 interview with Yahoo, Cage was living in England and immersed himself in the legends of King Arthur and Merlin. Then, when he played a Las Vegas magician in the movie "Next," he decided he wanted to play an actual wizard. So, he brought the idea to producer Todd Garner. He then had the idea to take the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment from Disney's "Fantasia" and expand it into a live-action feature.

"Fantasia" itself was a box office bomb that later became a cultural touchstone, one that Nicolas Cage had a personal relationship with. Thus, he took to the idea. Mega-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who had also worked on "National Treasure" and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, got involved. Again, all the pieces seemed to be in place for a big success, given what was going on at Disney during this era.

For one, the production had its share of issues. A car stunt gone wrong injured two pedestrians during filming (per the BBC), for one. It was also, not for nothing, a very expensive movie to make, with a reported budget of $150 million. Now, it's not as though this is unusual for a big summer blockbuster, particularly from Disney, but it's a big risk for a live-action spin-off of sorts tied to a movie that was itself a bomb in its day.

Cage, as a movie star, was also removed from his commercial peak in the '90s. Long gone were the days of Nic Cage battling Nic Cage in the summer of '97 when "Face-Off" and "Con Air" both released on top of one another. Instead, he was heading up whiffs like "The Wicker Man" and "Bangkok Dangerous," among others. Unfortunately, this would go down as yet another swing-and-a-miss.

Disney released "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" on the weekend of July 14, 2010, right in the heat of the summer movie season. That proved to be terrible timing, as it opened directly against Christopher Nolan's "Inception," which stands as one of the highest-grossing original hits ever. Nolan, who was coming off of "The Dark Knight," delivered a sci-fi thriller met with rave reviews.

Jon Turtletaub wasn't as lucky. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" received fairly lousy reviews, with a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes to this day. As a result, on opening weekend, it had to settle for third place behind not only "Inception," but "Despicable Me" on its second weekend. Disney's big fantasy epic opened to just $17.6 million and never recovered. The big-budget misfire finished its run with a disastrous $63.1 million domestically, $152.1 million internationally, and a grand total of $215.2 million worldwide.

After theaters took their cut of the ticket sales, the movie didn't come close to recouping its budget, let alone marketing costs. Any talk of a potential sequel or new fantasy franchise ended quickly. As did this era of Nicolas Cage's career. Not long after, he began his direct-to-video era, something Cage has no regrets about. From "Seeking Justice" to "Pay the Ghost" and everything in between, Cage was far removed from big studio movies for a long time.

He eventually had a bit of a creative resurgence thanks in no small part to 2013's "Joe." In the here and now, Cage is back to doing some of his best work ever in movies like "Mandy" and "Pig." Not to mention "Longlegs," which became the biggest indie horror hit in a decade up to that point. Yes, he still makes time for the occasional low-budget schlock, but he's firmly out of this period of DTV exile.

Still, in retrospect, this movie was an important part of his filmography, as it was sort of a dividing line in the story that makes up the Oscar winner's very unique career.

You can grab "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon.