If there’s one actor who is aware of how you can deal with chaos, it’s Nicolas Cage. Nevertheless, even he wasn’t prepared for a swarm of bees to crash the set of his upcoming horror film, The Carpenter’s Son, a spiritual horror-drama through which he performs Joseph, the biblical determine. Whereas web sleuths is perhaps tempted to name the bee assault karma, the Ghost Rider vet insists this wasn’t a case of divine retribution. Nonetheless, I’ve to confess, what came about behind the scenes on this 2025 film launch sounds even wilder than the notorious The Wicker Man bee scene.
Cage lately spoke to Leisure Weekly, throughout which he opened up concerning the now-infamous bee incident that unfolded whereas filming on a distant mountaintop. Naturally, everybody’s first thought was his iconic line from The Wicker Man, “Not the bees!” however the Renfield star was fast to close that down with fun. The Carpenter’s Son, he clarified, just isn’t a comedy, and the bee assault wasn’t a part of some elaborate meta bit. It was, fairly merely, a logistical fail. He recalled:
Effectively, what I might say about that, somewhat than some form of mystical intervention, is that it was simply silly location scouting, and somebody did not do their analysis.
After all, the main man isn’t mad on the bees, heck, he even sympathizes with them, which is by some means essentially the most Nic Cage factor I’ve ever heard. The longtime Hollywood fixture continued:
The bees there, by the best way, are protected. I might be pissed off too, if I used to be a bee and there was a movie crew going into my hive and shining lights on the whole lot. It was ridiculous. I do not know whose concept it was. After which they stored saying, ‘Return and shoot there with all of the bees,’ and folks have been getting stung and getting sick. I imply, it was actually not sensible. It wasn’t any form of divine mystical intervention. It was simply stupidity. There was no regard for nature and our brothers and sisters within the animal kingdom.
Go away it to Cage to acknowledge our “brothers” and “sisters” within the animal kingdom. It’s a must to admit, its fairly superior to see an actor give it up for the animals whereas calling out the lower than thought out plan by the manufacturing.
However the bee (wasp?) discuss didn’t finish with Cage. Director Lotfy Nathan advised EW that the true mess got here later, when one other location—an elaborate leper colony set—needed to be shut down because of a recent swarm of offended wasps, allegedly drawn in by chemical substances utilized in set dressing. The second they arrived on set, manufacturing halted. The filmmaker added:
Across the center of manufacturing, we confirmed up for our first day at a brand new location, a distant mountain prime the place a set for a leper colony was constructed. Apparently, some chemical the artwork division used for ending touches on the set ended up attracting a swarm of wasps in a single day, which nobody observed till the morning we have been set to shoot there. We needed to shut it down that day, which was an actual mess. There was lots of gossip about it being ‘divine intervention’, however probably only a bunch of offended wasps.
For many who may not know, The Carpenter’s Son was written and directed by Lotfy Nathan, impressed by the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Set in the course of the misplaced years of Jesus’ boyhood, the movie follows a younger Christ (Noah Jupe), his mom (FKA Twigs), and his earthly father, Joseph (Nicolas Cage), as they navigate a world caught between divine thriller and human concern. Mixing non secular mythology with horror-genre pressure, the movie explores themes of religion, energy, and identification by means of a darkish, unsettling lens.
Regardless of what seems like a cursed shoot, within the vein of say, The Ardour of the Christ, Cage maintains that nothing actually supernatural occurred. No hauntings, no omens—simply bees doing what bees do. So, sure, The Carpenter’s Son had its share of manufacturing drama, however The Kiss of the Vampire star desires followers to know the movie itself is not any joke. He describes it as intense, weak, and emotionally uncooked, including:
…All people approached this film as if the fabric was one thing sacred, they usually have been very cautious with it. There was no wink, there was no smirk.
In different phrases, the bees might have been buzzing, however there’s nothing ironic concerning the Longlegs star’s newest function. Simply dedication, chaos and a deep reverence for the story being advised.
Followers of a number of the greatest horror films can catch the upcoming Nic Cage mission, The Carpenter’s Son, when it arrives in theaters on November 14.
