Nicolas Cage Is 'Lord of War'

Taking an inside look at the seedy world of arms-dealing, "Lord of War" (search) straps on the Uzi this weekend and hopes to make a killing at the box office.

Nicolas Cage (search) plays a wily dealer, trying to balance domestic responsibilities with staying one step ahead of the law.

"It's not something you really read about or see on TV — who's subsidizing these gun sales to oppressive dictators around the world. It made me interested in doing the movie, because I thought it was an important topic that might make more people aware of it," Cage told FOX News.

In making the film, director Andrew Niccol (search) learned that people in the weapons trade run a tight ship.

"I actually had to deal with real arms dealers to get the film made, to get all [the] guns needed for the movie. When a guy said 'I can deliver you 50 tanks' — one private guy who owned 50 tanks in the Czech republic — and 'I'll get them there on Tuesday at 9 a.m.,' sure enough, there they are all [were] perfectly lined up," Niccol said.

And even though the film is fictional, it does make a point about the role superpowers play in funding certain wars.

"It's so startling to know that the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations are the biggest arms dealers in the world, so they are really the "In-security Council," Niccol said.

But Cage wants to remind audiences that this is just a movie.

"The research that Andrew Niccol did on this film — he's standing by it — he won't back down that this is the truth, so who knows what happens. The bottom line is it's an entertaining thriller," Cage said.

FOX News Mike Waco and Anita Vogel contributed to this report.