Actor Nicolas Cage publicly distanced himself from his 1984 movie Racing with the Moon and refused to participate in its promotional campaign.
Cage questioned whether publicity could have saved the film, which he considered uncohesive and unhelpful to the trajectory of his career.
His comments were originally made to the Los Angeles Times newspaper in 1986, two years after the movie premiered, and were resurfaced by British publication Far Out Magazine.
According to Far Out Magazine, Cage told the newspaper in 1986 that he was not a big fan of the movie and felt it was not as cohesive as it should have been. He added that he was not sure promotional work would have helped its reception, regarding the project as unhelpful for his career path.
Far Out Magazine identified the production as the one project Cage would have preferred to erase from his filmography.
Box office performance and critical reception
Set in the 1940s, Racing with the Moon follows two young men awaiting their enlistment in the United States military. Cage co-starred in the period drama alongside Sean Penn and Elizabeth McGovern, while actor Crispin Glover made his second feature film appearance.
The movie was the second feature directed by Richard Benjamin, an actor who later gained wider fame directing the 1990 comedy drama Mermaids starring Cher and Winona Ryder.
Cage's negative assessment stood in contrast to movie critic Roger Ebert, who gave the film three and a half stars out of four. In his review, Ebert praised the story's simplicity and emotional resonance, writing that one of its simplest pleasures was watching the narrative move inevitably toward its resolution, with a deeper pleasure lying in how it arrived with grace and charm.
Despite positive reviews, the movie failed to recover its investment at the box office. Data published by Far Out Magazine showed the film grossed just over $6 million against a production budget of $6.5 million.
Early career and name change
The financial shortfall and Cage's lack of enthusiasm left the film overshadowed as his career expanded. At the time of production, Cage was in the opening stages of his screen career, having made a minor appearance in the 1982 coming-of-age comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
Born into the famous Coppola filmmaking family, the actor changed his birth surname from Coppola to Cage to forge an independent professional identity, although family connections continued to mark his early years in Hollywood. He went on to work with his uncle, director Francis Ford Coppola, on films including Rumble Fish and The Cotton Club.
Following Racing with the Moon, Cage appeared in Peggy Sue Got Married before starring opposite Cher in the 1987 romantic comedy Moonstruck. The success of Moonstruck established his reputation as a leading actor, leaving Racing with the Moon as one of the early projects he remembered with the least warmth.
