Nicolas Cage arrested after drunken tear in New Orleans' French Quarter

Actor Nicolas Cage, who won an Oscar for portraying a suicidal alcoholic in 1995's Leaving Las Vegas, is having problems of his own with the booze.

The 47-year-old, whose latest film is the so-so supernatural action-gore epic Drive Angry 3D—directed by Vancouver's own Patrick Lussier—was arrested last night in New Orleans' French Quarter and charged with domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace, and public drunkenness.

The incident began around 11:30 p.m. when Cage, who is shooting a movie in The Big Easy, started arguing with his wife, Alice Kim, on the 600 block of Dumaine Street.

"He and his wife were standing in front of a residence that he insisted was the property the couple was renting," New Orleans police officer Garry Flot is quoted as saying. "She disagreed, and Cage grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her to what he believed was the correct address."

After Cage began striking nearby vehicles, onlookers called police, who found the heavily intoxicated actor inside a cab. He started yelling when the cops ordered him out of the vehicle, according to Flot, and was taken to New Orleans' Central Lock-up, where charges were laid. He was released after an Orleans Parish magistrate set his bond at US$11,000, with a court date set for May 31.

Cage—whose previous marriages to actress Patricia Arquette in '95 and singer Lisa Marie Presley in 2002 ended in divorce—has a five-year-old son with Kim named Kal-El (Superman's birth name). Although Cage remains one of Hollywood's highest paid actors—earning $40 million in 2009 according to Forbes Magazine—he has been plagued by serious tax and real estate problems in recent years, including foreclosures. Last December he was caught on a camera-phone delivering an expletive-ridden rant outside a nightclub in Bucharest (see below), where he was shooting the bound-to-be-awful Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

No word yet on whether Cage will make a guest appearance at Charlie Sheen's upcoming Vancouver show.

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