Michael Caine retired: The Great Escaper will be his last film

Last Updated on November 3, 2023

With The Great Escaper in UK theaters and earning rave reviews, Michael Caine has decided to call it a day on his long, storied career, confirming that he’s now officially retired. He confirmed the news on BBC Radio (excerpted by Deadline) saying,

“I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well I am now,” adding, “I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and had incredible reviews … What am I going to do that will beat this?”

Previously, Caine had hinted that The Great Escaper, in which he co-stars with the late Glenda Jackson, would be his final bow. He said as much to The Telegraph.

“I am bloody 90 now, and I can’t walk properly and all that,” Caine said about getting up in years and his body no longer cooperating. Caine says he used a walking stick on the set of Oliver Parker’s new film, focusing on Bernard Jordan’s escapes from his care home to attend the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in France. “They gave me a very good walking stick, and I was able to do scenes that needed that. I’d just do them once, and then fall over. But just one take, and that’s it. Forget it.”

Continuing his chin wag with The Telegraph, Caine said, “I sort of am retired now,” suggesting his days of getting in front of cameras have ended. Caine points out he no longer needs to work to pay rent and has contemplated retirement for the past 40 years. His original plan was to retire at 45, move to a farmhouse, fill it with kids, and grow old gracefully. While that plan is no longer in the cards, Caine seems content to call it a day at 90 after decades of giving audiences the gift of knock-out performances.

According to IMDB, Caine could reprise his role as Arthur Tressler in Now You See Me 3. However, with the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes and the project still being in pre-production, the threequel may need to make his character disappear.

What do you think about Caine finally making good on his plan to retire at 90 years old? What are your favorite Michael Caine performances? He’ll always be my Alfred Pennyworth, and I enjoy his roles in The Prestige, Children of Men, and at the top of the list, Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol. No one dances alongside a Muppet as well as Michael Caine, dammit! Let us know your favorite movies starring Michael Caine in the comments below!