Nicholas Cage's Back Taxes: More Than $6 Million Down, Much To Go

Nicholas Cage can celebrate some welcome good news: he's pared down his 2007 back-taxes bill to the tune of around $6.25 million, E! Online reports.

Keep in mind, that's only the good news. These things have a way of evening themselves out.

He's paid down $6.25 million, but the "Leaving Las Vegas" Best Actor Oscar-winner he likely still owes right around another $7 million. In 2010, Cage told People he owed approximately $14 million in unpaid federal taxes.

"Over the course of my career I have paid at least $70 million in taxes," he told People then. "However, I am under new business management and am happy to say that I am current for 2009. All taxes will be paid including any to-be-determined state taxes."

A 2009 federal lien against his real-estate holdings cost Cage four homes he'd owned - two New Orleans residences' sales fetched a total $6.8 million; a mansion in Los Angeles sold for $10.5 million; and finally, a Las Vegas home was bought for $4.95 million.

Though critics ravaged it, it's a good thing Cage's most recent attempted blockbuster was at least financially profitable. Made on a $57-million budget, his Marvel reboot "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" grossed a $127.6-million box office haul. It's about the same proportion to what 2007's first "Ghost Rider" attempt made - produced on a $110-million budget, and earning $228.7 million in theaters.

Cage is currently filming "Stolen" and will also begin pre-production on "Frank or Francis" and "The Frozen Ground" later this year, and will do voice work on "The Croods" in 2013.