Nicolas Cage once won an Oscar for “Leaving Las Vegas.” He was the star of movies like “Face/Off,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” and “Moonstruck.”

That was a long time ago.

This weekend, Cage’s latest almost-straight-to-video release made just five thousand dollars playing on nine screens. That’s $556 per theater. That’s not enough to butter the popcorn.

What happened to Nicolas Cage, nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and cousin to Sofia Coppola and Jason Schwartzman? He was a star. But it’s been 10 years since he was in an actual hit– “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” which made $220 million.

That Indian Jones rip off was the sequel to the first “National Treasure” movie in 2004. But Cage’s career was already sputtering to an end as he made one crappy movie after another to pay extraordinary personal bills.

“Vengeance” was his first release since 2014’s “Left Behind,” which made $14 million– with an opening weekend of $6 million.

What makes this so bad is that “Vengeance” is based on a story by famed author Joyce Carol Oates with a screenplay by David Mankiewicz. But it’s got a not well known director and co-stars include Don Johnson and, believe it or not, Charlene Tilton of “Dallas” fame.

The only advice anyone can give him is what Cher said to him in “Moonstruck”: “Snap out of it!”

The box office continued its downhill roll yesterday. Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!” starring Jennifer Lawrence proved to be a dud. “American Assassin” directed by Michael Cuesta and starring Michael Keaton is also a bust, although its minimal budget of $33 million may mitigate huge losses.

“Mother!” took in just $3 million last night, “American Assassin” came in at $5.8 million.

Meanwhile power horror film “It” scared up another $19 million on Friday night. The two week total through last night is $178 million.

By now you may know that Harry Dean Stanton has died at the age of 91. He was an enigmatic character actor who was Jack Nicholson’s best friend, a hero of Sean Penn and David Lynch, and a guilty pleasure kind of character actor you always looked forward to seeing in a movie.

He made a lot of movies, too. Harry Dean started in the classic TV era in the late 50s, and appeared in show after show. He had a kind of dry humor and wan look that made him an easy casting as a fallen soldier, an alcoholic, a grifter. He always looked worn out and later that gave him a kind of wisdom that stretched across his angular face. As recently as this summer he was in several episodes of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” reboot (for no apparent purpose except to be himself). At his death he still had two movies in the can including “Lucky,” which co-stars Lynch.

Harry was a cult figure in Hollywood until the early 80s when he finally hit it big in Alex Cox’s clever indie film, “Repo Man.” He followed that with Wim Wenders’ “Paris, Texas,” and “Stars and Bars” (with Daniel Day Lewis), John Hughes’s “Pretty in Pink,” and so on. Suddenly he was one of those guys we were looking for in hip films. Those would come to include David Lynch’s “Wild at Heart,” and “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me” (in which he originated Carl Rodd). He had an outlaw quality that appealed to Hollywood bad boys like Penn and even Charlie Sheen.

Movies won’t be the same without Harry Dean Stanton. But even as a character actor he’d be worth a tribute festival. His arc in film history represents some of the best work ever. He will be sorely missed.

Jon Voight is certainly back in daughter Angelina Jolie’s inner circle. He came with her and the kids to the NY premiere last night of her extraordinary new film, “First They Killed My Father.” (And second, they made up with him. Par umpum!)

Hard to imagine how this whole rapprochement works since Jolie and Voight are further apart on the political scale than Patti Davis was from her parents, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. But maybe it’s a lesson to a lot of families split by the current political climate. Blood is thicker than water. The lesson of family is the underscore for “First They Killed My Father.”

Certainly we learn that from Jolie’s film, which would be hailed as a “masterpiece” if it had been made by Spielberg or Eastwood. “First They Killed My Father” should put Angelina right in the ranks of the top directors– it’s an astounding achievement on a grand level and really deserves a Best Picture nomination.

It’s on the level of one of Eastwood’s best films, “Letters from Iwo Jima.” There is no English spoken. Much of the movie is Cambodian or Vietnamese. A good deal of it is without dialogue as child star Sareum Srey Moch navigates holy hell as the Khmer Rouge threaten to obliterate her country. All the children are exceptional, and you can tell that they really responded to Jolie. The really extraordinary move Jolie makes as a director here is that she has no adults, and no “Stars”– there is no ‘draw’ of a name. You don’t suddenly see a Movie Star show up as guide through the film. That’s how confident she is.

The film is based on a book Jolie bought for $2 the first time she went to Cambodia 17 years ago. “First They Killed My Father” is written by Loung Ung (played by young Moch). Loung came to the Toronto Film Festival and to last night’s NY premiere with one of her brothers, also portrayed in the film. They are a shining example of why immigration is so important. After the harrowing true events of the movie they came to the US and grew up in Cleveland. They are all incredibly accomplished, great successes. More importantly, they are alive and well. Meeting them takes your breath away.

The reunion with Jon Voight certainly comes from the lessons of the film. The whole point of the film– far more than the political– is the fabric of Loung’s family knitting back together. It’s a metaphor for Jolie’s life.

See this movie. And let’s hope it does well enough that brings awards and recognition for Jolie as a filmmaker at last. She deserves it.

Things are not getting better for Tom Cruise’s international release of “American Made.”

The worldwide total is now at $34.4 million for the Doug Liman-directed thriller. It’s played in most countries except China, Russia, and South Korea– Cruise’s go to countries. “The Mummy,” for example, inexplicably made $91 million in China early this summer.

But so far “American Made” has done less well in every country than “The Mummy.” It could be a case of over-saturation– they did just see him in another film that didn’t make much sense. Some people say the title is a turn off, especially with America declaring Trump trade wars abroad.

“American Made” has two more weeks to fill its coffers before its US release. Meantime, Cruise– recovering from injuries that have halted production of “Mission Impossible 6”– has not been seen or heard from all summer. The old smilin’ Tom would have shown up in London for a premiere on crutches. So who knows what’s going on?