Nicolas Cage Says He's 'a Little Bit Homeless' After Malibu Sinkhole

Nicolas Cage told fans at Los Angeles Comic Con that he is "a little bit homeless" and living in hotels after a September sinkhole swallowed the driveway of his Malibu home. Thirty-one homes on his street remain evacuated, with no estimate of when residents can return.

Nov 04, 2026 - 09:22

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Nicolas Cage says he is "a little bit homeless" and living in hotels after a massive sinkhole opened outside his oceanfront home in Malibu in September, the Oscar-winning actor told fans at Los Angeles Comic Con on Saturday, Oct. 31. His remarks, captured in a fan video of the panel, were reported Tuesday by Variety, the Los Angeles Times, NBC News and The Hollywood Reporter.

Asked about his Halloween plans during an appearance on the convention's main stage, Cage said, "I'm currently a little bit homeless," according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Something happened to my house in Malibu, so I'm just sort of living in hotels, so I don't have normal trick-or-treaters I would like to enjoy tonight."

What Cage said at L.A. Comic Con

Cage told the audience he would instead take his young daughter trick-or-treating "somewhere in Santa Monica" and then watch Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film "The Shining," the Los Angeles Times reported. The Hollywood Reporter identified the child as his 4-year-old daughter, August Francesca Coppola Cage, and E! News reported that he shares her with his wife, Riko Shibata.

Cage said the film's director had been nominated for worst director at the Razzies. "He directed the hell out of that movie," Cage said, according to Variety. "I'm going to watch that tonight. After I put my daughter to bed, I'm going to put on 'The Shining.'" The Los Angeles Times quoted him as also saying, "That is one of my favorite movies ever made."

NBC News reported that representatives for Cage did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and that it was not clear how long he had been out of the home or when he would be able to return.

How the sinkhole opened

According to an emergency proclamation from the city of Malibu cited by NBC News, the sinkhole started to form Sept. 7 and fully emerged Sept. 8, measuring 25 to 30 feet deep and 30 by 60 feet wide. The Los Angeles Times reported at the time that Los Angeles County fire and sheriff's personnel responded around 5:45 a.m. on Sept. 8 to the sinkhole at a home on the 31600 block of Sea Level Drive and that real estate records showed the property is owned by Cage.

The city declared a local emergency and issued evacuation orders for 31 homes, the Times reported. Seven residences were red-tagged because of hazardous conditions, and another 24 because of the loss of safe vehicle access. In its emergency declaration, the city wrote that "the intact portion of the roadway is too narrow to accommodate emergency response vehicles, including fire engines and other large apparatus, creating a substantial risk to public safety and emergency response capabilities."

The Southern California Gas Company shut off service to address a gas leak, according to the Times, and city officials said no one was hurt, NBC News reported. The Hollywood Reporter said the collapse swallowed part of the driveway and damaged the deck of Cage's property, and that officials warned conditions could worsen because of high tides and rain associated with Hurricane Marie. Variety reported that officials have not determined how the sinkhole formed.

Repairs and an uncertain timeline

In October, Cage secured four permits to repair the damage, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing city records. The work calls for excavation to retrieve a soil sample, debris removal and sandbags to protect the property from strong waves and coastal erosion. The Times reported that the permits cost $3,158 in total and were four of 14 granted to Sea Level Drive residents over two months.

The Sea Level Drive Homeowners Association, which controls the private road, is responsible for the repairs, according to the city, the Times reported. When the sinkhole first opened, the city estimated repairs could take up to five weeks depending on conditions. Local outlet Malibu.fm later reported that the original contractor was terminated by the association four weeks into the project.

In an update published Nov. 3, Malibu.fm reported that 31 houses on Sea Level Drive remain evacuated nearly two months after the road collapsed and that there is still no estimate of when the red-tag evacuation orders will end. The outlet said a new contractor had been given two weeks to come up with a plan three weeks earlier, and that there was no public statement yet on plans to fix the road, build new driveways, restore utilities and allow the city to remove the red tags.

Malibu also declared a state of emergency on Oct. 7 amid concerns about powerful waves and El Niño, the Los Angeles Times reported. "Malibu has experienced the serious impacts of powerful storms, including during El Niño years, so we know how serious they are," Mayor Bruce Silverstein said in that declaration.

The home and Cage's upcoming projects

Records show Cage bought the Malibu home for $10.5 million in 2024, according to the Los Angeles Times, which described the house as having four bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms across 3,938 square feet. The Times noted that Cage's accolades include an Oscar and a Golden Globe for the 1995 film "Leaving Las Vegas."

The sinkhole update comes ahead of a busy stretch for the actor. Cage stars as football coach John Madden in Amazon MGM's "Madden," directed by David O. Russell, which Variety reported opens in select theaters on Nov. 11 and streams globally on Prime Video on Nov. 18. The cast also includes Christian Bale as Al Davis, Kathryn Hahn, Sienna Miller, John Mulaney and Shane Gillis. Variety also reported that Cage was recently revealed to be starring in Season 5 of HBO's "True Detective" alongside Antonio Banderas.