How Nicholas Cage blew his fortune: An octopus, stolen dinosaur skull and castle

National Treasure actor Nicholas Cage has spent his millions on some frivolous purchases. Photo / Getty Images

Despite being one of the highest-paid actors in Hollywood, Nicholas Cage spent most of his fortune on bizarre purchases.

According to The Sun, Cage was essentially broke by the time he entered his 40s - and a look at some of the things he bought makes this fact less surprising.

And this past weekend, the actor was caught out when he was thrown out of a Las Vegas bar.

According to eye-witnesses who spoke to The Sun, he was "completely drunk and being rowdy" and onlookers thought he was a "homeless man".

"He was shouting at people and trying to get into fights and then staff asked him to leave," a witness said.

Since his starring roles in Con Air, Ghost Rider and Face/Off, the Hollywood star fell into a heap of debt in 2009 - and owed the Internal Revenue Service US$6 million, The Mirror reports.

When fans look at the list of his rather bizarre purchases over the years, it's no wonder he quickly spent his large movie earnings.

Sure, he spent millions on the things people would expect from rich celebrities. He splashed out on a yacht worth $20m, which had 12 bedrooms. He also owned several expensive sports cars, including a Lamborghini purchased for $640,000, plus a $1.42m Ferrari Enzo.

But that doesn't even begin to cover his strange purchases.

For example, he spent $426,000 on a Tyrannosaurus bataar dinosaur skull, which he later had to return to Mongolian authorities in 2014.

He also bought a 40-acre island south of Nassau for $9.95m - that's in addition to his real estate portfolio with a $35m California beach house in the mix, too.

What's more, his real estate spending extended to an 11th-century Bavarian castle in Germany for an eye-watering $11.38m, and a house that belonged to serial killer Madame Delphine LaLaurie for $4.95m.

He also bought an octopus, as one does when you're famous and bored, for $273,000.

He's prepared for his death too - with a 2.7 metre pyramid tomb in New Orleans' famous St Louis Cemetery No.1 which was purchased for an unknown amount.

Cage has also forked out for five weddings, and some didn't come cheap. He was married to Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie Presley for a short three months, but the failed marriage ended up costing him. Presley allegedly tossed a $92,000 yellow diamond engagement ring into the ocean.

And that's not even his record for his shortest marriage - his marriage with Erika Koike in 2019 lasted just four days.

He's currently married to Riko Shibata.

Cage blamed his accountant for sending him "down a path toward financial ruin".