Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures is gearing up to get Ghost Rider 2 in theaters, pushing for Batman Begins writer David S. Goyer to script the sequel to the 2007 Nicholas Cage-starring film. Speaking of Cage, he is expected (but not confirmed) to return for the sequel, having already proclaimed his desire to do so.
Though Goyer has yet to sign-on officially, word is that the next Ghost Rider will be based on a script that Goyer wrote years ago for the character. Details are sketchy on what that script involves, or whether or not Ghost Rider 2 will be an actual sequel to the 2007 film, or more akin to the quasi-reboot Cage described earlier this year.
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Ghost Rider 2 will be produced by former Marvel head Avi Arad, Michael De Luca and Steven Paul, with Gary Foster serving as executive producer.
As Variety points out, it’s no real surprise to hear that Ghost Rider 2 is trying to “rev itself” into production; every third-party studio which currently owns a Marvel property is thinking along those same lines, now that Disney has partnered with Marvel. The studios know that if they don’t show any signs of forward progress on their owned properties, Disney/Marvel will have the right to reclaim them and develop them under their own banner, laughing all the while as the box office cash comes rolling in (See: Iron Man).
That dreaded fear has prompted the major studios to you-know-what rather than get off the pot, and currently in development alongside Ghost Rider 2 are:
- FOX: Fantastic Four Reboot, Daredevil Reboot, Wolverine 2, X-Men 4, New Mutants, X-Men: First Class & X-Men Origins: Magneto.
- SONY: Spider-Man 4 (and 5)
- UNIVERSAL: Namor The Sub-Mariner,
- PARAMOUNT: Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America
For my money, I would love to see Ghost Rider 2 be more in the vein of the Marvel “Midnight Sons” sub-genre of the 90s (see above), which saw the likes of Ghost Rider, Johnny Blaze, Blade, The Nightstalkers, The Darkhold Redeemers, Dr. Strange and Morbius banding together to battle the supernatural elements of the Marvel Universe. Midnight Sons were not your little brother’s comic books, and I’ve always thought that a film like Ghost Rider should straddle that same line between superhero and horror flick (maybe leaning just a bit more toward the horror side).
Again, Ghost Rider 2 is still in the early planning stages; no confirmation that Goyer will write it or that Cage will star in it. No word yet if Ghost Rider writer/director Mark Steven Johnson will be brought back, or if (please, please, please) the studio will tap a new director to helm the sequel.
We’ll keep you posted.
Source: Variety
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20 Comments
i didnt mind cage playn ghost rider – i was just opposed to how saturday morning the character(s) were written – especially the artificial sweetened bad guys. here’s hoping the goyer does script it, but allows someone else to direct.
go with someone other than Cage. He hasn’t done anything well in a long time.
Getting the writer from Batman Begins is a great move though.
I was hoping all this sequel talk was just a nightmare I had .
There’s something wrong with you guys. I thought GhostRider was actually very good, even if it did veer from the comic books some. I don’t think that’s a bad thing necessarily. Comic are comics, movies are movies. I though Cage did a really good job actually. He made a good Johnny Blaze. The special effects were good, it all felt very comic book style if you ask me. I even liked the villains. Peter Fonda was the best Devil ever. Thats how I’ve always pictured him actually. And I don’t agree about making these films into horror movies and going R rated with them. I want to be able to take my son to watch these super hero movies no matter with character it is, I mean thats really who these movies are for. You can deny it if you want, but Superheroes belong to kids, even if us adults that are still crazy for them don’t want to admit it…it’s the kid inside us that they belong to. How sad would it be to not be able to take my kid to see Ghostrider or Hulk or Wolverine because someone decides it should be R rated.
Ghost Rider was good
The only bad thing was the ending, the villians died way too fast and didnt put up much of a fight 
That is so awesome. Nick Cage is bring back his Ghost Rider Wig. At least its not as bad as the wig he wore while dressed up in Tim Burtons Superman.
ok wickamo i gotta stop u there if u think ghostrider was a good movie than dam man i dont even know what to say. I mean that movie was so shockingly bad it was scary. If u were under the age of 4 than maybe i can c it being decent. I mean the acting alone was so awful it shocked me, cage can be a great actor but man that movie sucked so much. If u want to take your kids to a movie i can c that but what happens to rest of the world that is not child and wants to c a movie and not a childrens comic movie?
I would watch Ghost Rider over Transformers any day.
@Kantsandya, I would love to pick apart your favorite films. I’m sure we would all get a laugh out of what you consider quality. Keep in mind these are opinions and telling someone they remind you of a 4 year old makes you sound like a irritating snob,,,
I agree with Wickamo, Ghost Rider was pretty cool.
But Black Heart was ruined, he looked nothing like what he usually looked like in the comics (which was, a LOT scarier)
I was incredibly fond of the Ghost Rider story and when the film was released Nic Cage seemed the right casting, but I unfortunately found the movie to lack in most other cases. I can’t say I’m happy about round 2, but can only hope that it’s better than the first.
I actually have that scrip that Goyer wrote. It’s on a backup DVD somewhere. After the studio decided not to use it was published by someone, somewhere and I got a copy. Now i HAVE to find it …
Same here, I enjoyed Ghost Rider and thought Cage was fine in the role. I also side with the view that the villains were very lackluster. Looking forward to a second rather than a redo.
I agree with Heather. Cage did fine but the movie lacked in many areas. Maybe the sequel will bounce back.
Even old guys like flaming skulls and bad A cycles! If anything was wrong with the first one its nothing that can’t be tweaked for the second one. Put someone Jim Mickle in the director’s chair…
Wow, I didn’t know Ghost Rider had such a cult following… and that they all posted comments on Screenrant.
I gotta say, I did kinda like the film in cinemas and even went so far as to buy the DVD, but, upon a recent viewing (see, a few months back) I found that the bad in that movie far outweighed the… not so bad.
I’m sorry, but that was just a really bad movie.
Oh, and I’m confused about which studios owned which properties. I thought Ironman, Thor and Captain America were owned solely by Marvel while Paramount were just distributing. I didn’t think Paramount owned any kind of rights that would give them a say in whether a new movie for those characters would get the greenlight, I thought that was all just Marvel studios doing.
Ghostrider was one of the Earlier
Marvel Movies !!!!!!!! The Story was Decent!!!! Nick was in Good Shape!!!!! Box Office Reciepts were not bad!!!!! I agree with most of the Viewers !!!!!! Good for Kids !!!!!! If you can only Complain !!!!!! Go Watch Transformers !!!! Ghost Rider 2 will I am sure will fit into Your Expectations!!!!!! Best Wishes!!!!!!!!!!
I for one would not have minded a Midnight Sons type of film, or, at the least, a box set of movies that would have Midnight Sons on it (before the Disney buy, Doctor Strange was once at Sony; if Morbius was more to Spidey than Blade, Morbius would be under Sony etc.)
As for Ghost Rider 2—
Here is a rundown of Goyer’s 2001 draft here:
http://www.internapse.com/ghostrider/script.php
Adapted and brought up to the sequel settings, the following should probably remain:
- There is no origin story. That’s fine, the previous film takes care of that
- The following characters return: Blaze (of course) Roxanne and Mephisto (named Starke in Goyer’s early draft)
- The script could fit in to the concept of “inventing a new villain” for film’s sake.A character named Billy Ray Carrigan and his ‘Gargoyle Biker Gang’. Carrigan soon becomes a hybrid-like mix of the Marvel Comics Scarecrow and The Swarm (Scarecrow-ish in appearance, and has command over locusts instead of bees)
- It could aim more for an R rating
Now, the old script itself has been reviewed, and is generally not favorable. However, if GR2 isn’t rebooted, a good chunk of those criticisms no longer apply, with the only three remaining being John Blaze the crook (!), “Ghost Blaze’ and the new villain angle. I personally prefer Demigoblin, but I would hope that they choose between a Marvel Scarecrow or The Swarm if they really had to.
I’m still for Cage’s Euro Castles idea; but if they go with the Goyer version as a springboard, it’s more like the Arizona desert…
Oh, and, despite the flaws, I also liked the first film.
I am sick to my stomach………
Um….reboot/recast please?
Plus, I think Cage will be slightly preoccupied with the revolutionary(read: totally unneccessary)franchise revitalization of Bad Lieutenant. Lucky crackpipes and Iguana hallucinations notwithstanding, his performance in the first Ghost Rider left a little to be desired, plus he ain’t getting any younger.
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