Nicolas Cage in Wicklow: Arcadian director on why Ireland is the perfect place to film
Nicolas Cage has 'such fond memories' of filming in Ireland. He stars in Arcadian, which was sho in Wicklow. Picure: Patrick Redmond/RLJE Films and Shudder
The new Nicolas Cage thriller, , is among the latest international movies to have filmed in Ireland. Already championed internationally for its home-grown film industry, Ireland is rapidly becoming an attractive place to make movies and TV series as filmmakers come here to shoot major projects.
While many of them may not be set in Ireland, several major shows are being drawn here by the availability of experienced film crews, attractive tax breaks and world-class locations in which to shoot.
These projects include the new Nicolas Cage thriller , currently in cinemas, and recent hits including , and .
Ireland, of course, has long been a draw for international film and TV projects. Even before Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks deputised Wexford’s Curracloe Beach for the beaches of Normandy in WW2 epic , the country was attractive to international filmmakers. More recently, the epic came to these shores, famously shooting at Skellig Michael in Co Kerry and Brow Head near Crookhaven in West Cork.
In the Wicklow countryside, movie fans may well have spotted top star Nicolas Cage and his onscreen sons taking on scary monsters in . The post-apocalyptic thriller - currently in cinemas - was filmed on these shores. And while the location isn’t specified, Ireland is very much at the centre of the story, says its director Benjamin Brewer.
“That was the best crew I've ever gotten to work with and filming was just so possible because of the Irish crew,” Brewer told The Irish Examiner.
“The movie wouldn't look anything like it does if we hadn't shot it in Ireland. It's impossible to imagine it being somewhere else. I think we all just had a really positive experience.
“It was between two places and one of them was Ireland. I remember rooting for Ireland because I thought that it would fit this greater unspoken part of the story.
“It happens when you make movies, you tend to start believing that everything happens for a reason. And I would put Ireland in that category - I just cannot picture the themes of the movie really working in some place besides Ireland.”
Cage was also impressed by his experience of working here, according to the director. He had previously been in Ireland prior to filming his Oscar-winning turn in in the 1990s.
“I think that he had such fond memories of the time he came previous and it's funny because there were actually some people who remembered interacting with him in 1993,” says Brewer.
“There was a welcoming energy. Also I think just the fact that the environment around him really looked like the movie and we weren't just setting up green screens. That immersiveness of it is going to have an impact on a performance. I think he liked that we were shooting in a place that had such rich artistic history.”
The filmmaker of the well-received thriller added that Ireland ticked several other boxes when it came to working here.
“We shot at Ardmore, and it's an excellent studio. They had just finished (starring Russell Crowe) where they built this most extraordinary set and they also just shot (the hit series mostly filmed in West Cork’s Union Hall).
“Our construction crew was incredible. There are great places to live, staying in Wicklow was very homey. The people who worked on our movie we were so blessed to have because they had just worked on much bigger stuff. Attitudes are just great.”
It’s been a buoyant time for both Irish and international productions filming here and both are of value to the economy. Screen Ireland figures show that, in 2023, there was a total screen industry production spend in the Irish economy across local goods and services of €322 million.
While only the most eagle-eyed will notice on viewing, several non-Irish productions have been filmed on these shores in recent years.
Series two of the hit series is currently filming on location in Ireland, with specific locations yet to be revealed. The series charting Wednesday Addams’ years at the Nevermore Academy has been a huge hit for streaming giant Netflix, becoming its most popular English language TV series.
The final series of comes to our screens this summer and marks the finale of its long association with Ireland. The spin-off series and its predecessor were all filmed in Ireland, primarily at Ashford Studios and on rural and seaside locations in Co Wicklow.
The wacky horror/comedy based on the true story of a bear who goes berserk after consuming a large amount of cocaine was shot in Co Wicklow. Powerscourt Waterfall and Avoca Mines are among the locations featured in the film, set in rural US, which stars Keri Russell and Ray Loitta and was directed by Elizabeth Banks.
Irish rising star Alisha Weir follows up her star turn in in this horror, shot in Ireland but set in an unspecific location. Sharp-eyed viewers might spot the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in some scenes, while much of the movie was filmed in the historic Glenmaroon House. Located in the Dublin suburb of Castleknock, it forms the film’s location, an isolated mansion in which kidnappers are tasked with holding a 12-year-old girl overnight, only to realise she’s no ordinary girl.
Filmmakers were already looking at Ireland, but the historic home sealed the deal, according to the film’s producer William Sherak. “Trying to find a full-scale old mansion that feels like it might be in the deep suburbs of Massachusetts or New England, something old enough and really big and palatial, there’s not a ton of that out there. You just can’t believe this exists.”
Stars including Amy Adams and Patrick ‘Dr McDreamy’ Dempsey were regularly spotted in Ireland when the sequel to the Disney hit filmed on location here. The Co Wicklow village of Enniskerry was transformed into a fairytale land for the movie, which filmed during the summer of 2021.
Kevin Harte’s new action heist movie may be set in Brussels and Heathrow, but most of the movie was filmed in specially built sets in Belfast’s Harbour studios. Some scenes were also filmed in the city’s famous Crown pub.
Starring Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington, the Netflix series was shot on location in Northern Ireland. Most of the series was filmed in Belfast’s Harbour Studios and Loop Studios. Other locations included St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast as well as the Mount Stewart estate at Strangford Lough.
