Nicolas Cage and Riko Shibata: Hollywood Romance or Just Another Oddball Plot Twist?

We’ve seen Nic Cage do a lot over the years. Steal national treasures. Screech about bees. Morph into a vampire. Buy a haunted mansion. Sell a haunted mansion. But even by Cage standards, his whirlwind romance with Riko Shibata has us raising both eyebrows—and possibly a third if we had one.

Because let’s be honest: a Vegas wedding to a woman 31 years younger? That’s not just a headline. That’s the setup for a surreal A24 film. And guess what? He’s living it.

The Meet Cute? More Like a Mid-Life Plot Device

According to Cage (the man, the myth, the meme), he met Riko Shibata in Japan sometime around early 2020 while filming… something. The details are fuzzy, vague, and suspiciously “off the record.”

All we know is: she’s young, she’s quiet, and she somehow fell into the orbit of one of Hollywood’s most consistently unhinged creatives. And then boom—pandemic hits, and he proposes via FaceTime. Not joking. He literally FedEx’d her the engagement ring. Romantic? Maybe. Red flag? Definitely.

Vegas Wedding Vibes: Quirky or Cultish?

Because obviously, when Nicolas Cage ties the knot, it’s gotta be in Vegas. The fifth time’s the charm, right? He and Riko got hitched at the Wynn in February 2021. She wore a black kimono (symbolic or foreboding?), he wore a tux, and somewhere in the background, you can hear Elvis sobbing quietly into a rhinestone napkin.

The ceremony was Catholic meets Shinto which sounds deep until you realize it’s just Nicolas Cage being Nicolas Cage. And get this: his ex-wife was there. Along with their son, Kal-El. Because nothing screams “stable domestic bliss” like your ex showing up to your fifth wedding.

Enter: Baby #3 (Yes, Really)

As if this fever dream couldn’t get more bizarre, in September 2022, Riko gave birth to their daughter: August Francesca Coppola Cage. A name that screams dynastic energy and "Oscar bait" in equal measure.

It’s Cage’s third child. Her first. And probably the only baby in Hollywood who’ll grow up knowing that her dad once spent millions on a dinosaur skull and an octopus.

So... Is This True Love or Just Another Nicolas Cage Side Quest?

Now let’s not be total cynics. Maybe it’s real. Maybe Nicholas finally found someone who’s cool with his spontaneous trips to haunted castles and his fluctuating accent choices.

But here’s what feels weird:

• She’s extremely private. Like, almost too private.

• He’s been through four marriages already—two of which lasted shorter than a Marvel press tour.

• And the whole vibe screams less eternal love and more "director's cut of Leaving Las Vegas" but with cuter shoes.

RELATED: Nicolas Cage Characters Ranked by Emotional Volatility

The Verdict: Sweet or Sus?

On one hand, Cage seems… happy? Like, weirdly centered. He’s doing good movies again, not buying any new pyramids (that we know of), and he speaks warmly about Riko in interviews. He even calls fatherhood his greatest role —

*cue the awwws*.

But on the other hand, this whole affair reeks of Hollywood odd-couple energy. It’s either the love story of the decade—or the first act of another Cage-shaped disaster movie.

We’ll be watching. Cautiously. With popcorn.

Final Scene: Is Cage Just Being Cage?

Maybe this is just what peak Cage looks like—settled down, dad-mode activated, and married to a mystery woman half his age who somehow tolerates his National Treasure reenactments over breakfast.

Or maybe we’re all just living inside Nicolas Cage’s latest character arc.

Either way? We’re not blinking.