Sinkhole swallows driveway of Malibu mansion reportedly owned by Nicolas Cage

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The driveway of a coastal mansion in Malibu believed to belong to Nicolas Cage collapsed Tuesday morning as a giant sinkhole opened up in front of the home.

The collapse caused a gas leak just before 6 a.m. local time, prompting authorities and a utility to respond. Utility SoCalGas said the leak was under control several hours later, but that it was temporarily shutting off natural gas services for a section of the street as a precaution against coastal erosion.

The hole is approximately 7.5 to nine metres deep and 18 metres wide, authorities said, and extends into the roadway. As of Wednesday, officials had proclaimed a local emergency and issued an evacuation order for 31 properties in the area.

Representatives for Cage did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Property records show the property was sold in 2024, and the prior owner told the New York Times at the time of the sale that Cage was the buyer.

An aerial image shows a sinkhole in front of a large white house. — The sinkhole in front of the beachfront house led to 31 evacuation orders being issued to waterfront properties in the Malibu area on Wednesday. (ABC Affiliate KABC via Reuters)

The mansion was damaged during a Los Angeles-area coastal flooding advisory over lingering effects of Marie, which had been a hurricane before turning back into a tropical storm. While the storm did not make landfall, it brought rain and churned up dangerous waves along the Southern California coastline over the holiday weekend.

“This incident is part of broader regional coastal conditions,” the City of Malibu said in a statement on Wednesday. “The city is also monitoring coastal erosion along PCH [Pacific Coast Highway] in the Palisades Fire burn area, Point Dume State Beach, and is monitoring other vulnerable points along the coast.”

A line of cones blocks off a large hole in the pavement in front of a house on a coastal residential street, with the ocean visible behind the houses. — Another aerial view of a sinkhole is shown on Tuesday. (Ethan Swope/The Associated Press)

The private neighbourhood sits between the ocean and the iconic Pacific Coast Highway.

Cage, 62, recently starred in the Amazon series Spider-Noir. He’ll play John Madden in a biographical film about the NFL coach and commentator out later this year. He’s appeared in more than 100 films, winning an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas.