Ghost Rider

[McfLy]

That trailer was quite depressing. Only positive thing was seeing Ghost Rider going up buildings on his bike. I remember that from the comics and it was cool to see it reproduced on film.

[MacGuffin]

Comic-Con 2006: Ghost Rider Rolls In
New trailer unveiled at Sony panel.

The long-awaited big-screen debut of Ghost Rider was among the upcoming Sony films presented Saturday at Comic-Con Interational in San Diego. The film's director, Mark Steven Johnson, was joined by stars Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes in showing new footage from the film to the crowd of thousands.

Footage from Ghost Rider had already been presented by former Marvel Studios topper Avi Arad during a Hasbro event at Comic-Con. A new trailer, however, was shown during the Sony panel.

The Ghost Rider footage recounts how biker Johnny Blaze sells his soul, becoming the title character. But Johnny turns his curse into a weapon against his evil masters, taking them on in a series of supernatural ass-kicking bouts.

The hottest parts of the trailer were the shots of Ghost Rider in action, complete with CG flaming skull. Ghost Rider is seen on his Hellcycle at many points, and whipping his fiery chain at demonic opponents (which obliterates them when it wraps around them).

Johnny Blaze's first transformation into Ghost Rider was a highlight of the piece, with Blaze screaming in panic and pain as his flesh starts to burn off his face.

[modage]

The long-awaited big-screen debut of Ghost Rider was among the upcoming Sony films presented Saturday at Comic-Con Interational in San Diego.

by who?

Johnny Blaze's first transformation into Ghost Rider was a highlight of the piece, with Blaze screaming in panic and pain as his flesh starts to burn off his face.

sounds like a good time at the movies!

[polkablues]

The long-awaited big-screen debut of Ghost Rider was among the upcoming Sony films presented Saturday at Comic-Con Interational in San Diego.

by who?

Me, from the age of thirteen to the age of fourteen.




They missed the window, is the point I'm trying to make here.

[MacGuffin]

Comic-Con 2006: Ghost Rider Interviews
Nic Cage, Eva Mendes and Mark Steven Johnson.

IGN FilmForce attended a roundtable interview Saturday with Ghost Rider writer-director Mark Steven Johnson and the film's stars, Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes. The interview preceded the presentation of exclusive new footage from the film during the Sony Pictures panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Q: You were a Ghost Rider fan since you were a kid, I hear.

Nicolas Cage: Oh, yes. I enjoyed the image of a skull on fire when I was a boy and the mythology of it, the Faust-like storyline of it, was so original for a Marvel comic book character. There really isn't any other one quite like Ghost Rider, and that's why I think he's fresh. I think it's time for a new kind of superhero and I'm speaking to the Ghost Rider family. Step out. We all know who we are.

Q: So how much fun was it for you and how cool was it for you as a comic book fan to finally play a comic book character?

Cage: It was wonderful for me because, as you know, it's been a long time that I've been trying to do it. But I'm a big believer that the right character is the one that ultimately happens. While I enjoyed Superman, I enjoyed the new movie, I think Brandon [Routh] was the right choice for that part, and I absolutely think that Ghost Rider is the right choice for me to play. It's a better match. I'm glad it worked out this way and I want you all to see it.

Q: So you do everything? Even when he's got the flaming skull and is on the bike?

Cage: Well, I'll let Mark talk about that because there were a lot of creative people that [we] worked with, Kevin Mack, that did a lot of designing.

Mark Steven Johnson: A bunch of the times it's Nick and some of the times it depends if there's a stunt involved. It's both. It's quite an elaborate get-up they had. Interactive fire has been kind of the bane of our existence these last few years. CG fire's the toughest thing to do. And what we'd do is we'd have a green neoprene hood on [Cage] with these lights that would give you interactive lighting on your shoulders. Remove the head and then we could put in the skull and fire and what not. But it proved to be a lot more difficult than we thought. It was real fire for all purposes and as you move, the fire wouldn't move the way it should have. So we spent this tremendous amount of time working at getting all of Nic's expressions in the skull, which is hard to do without lips or eyes or a tongue. And still make it look like it's Nic.

Q: Nic, you tend to immerse yourself deeply into your characters. How deep did you get with Ghost Rider?

Cage: I was invited in early on in the process so I like to think I was building it from scratch along with Mark and as he was writing it we would talk. And even right before we went to film in Australia, we were coming up with ideas to add on to the character. I think traditionalists of the comic book will be happy but we did build up the story and add on to the character. There's little habits that he has. He has a fetish for jellybeans and he reads a lot but he's something of a cowboy. Mark was very excited about the Western element of the character, harkening back to the original Ghost Rider which Sam [Elliott] plays.

Eva Mendes: He's a Karen Carpenter fan, which I found very interesting.

Cage: Yes, Ghost Rider is a Karen Carpenter fan.

Johnson: I promise this will make sense! I swear! [laughter]

Cage: The way I thought of that was I remembered when I was in a dental chair. They always play these soft, soothing types of music. And Johnny Blaze is sort of literally sitting in a dental chair every second of the day wondering when the devil is going to come and claim his purchase. So I think he's constantly trying to relax. So instead of the bourbon-drinking, chain-smoking bad ass, I think he's such a bad ass that he needs to calm down with Karen Carpenter and jellybeans.

Q: Mark, there have been many versions of Ghost Rider. Which interpretation is yours?

Johnson: Mine is the original. Mine is Johnny Blaze. It's pretty much the classic story. Very few changes but it's all about selling your soul and, in our case, it's the father not the step-father who has lung cancer. Having to leave the girl behind and being cursed and having to hit the road. All that stuff is it. What I got from the Danny Ketch era, which I love graphically, which I always thought was really beautiful, was some of the looks. The spiked jacket. This isn't the blue full-body jumpsuit. And the motorcycle he had in the early years of the comics I wasn't a big fan of. I thought we could do better. But the actual looks, with the chain around the spikes, that was all the later stuff from the Ketch years, which I liked a lot. And the Caretaker from the Ketch years was a character I always liked a lot and wanted to find way to use him, as was Blackheart. So a lot of it was taken from later but the origin and a lot of the heart and soul of it was from the Johnny years.

Q: Eva, can you tell us a little bit about your character Roxanne? She's a TV reporter?

Mendes: Yeah, I play Roxanne Simpson, Johnny Blaze's long-lost love. I was really happy that Mark took a chance on me because the original Roxanne was actually his step-sister, correct? So you changed that. That's kind of weird. I'm open but I'm not that open. [laughter] So I'm glad you changed that story point. And the girl in the comic book was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and different visually than I and gave her a little flavor, a little spice.

Q: Nic, do you still have your Ghost Rider comic books?

Cage: Oh, absolutely. I would never sell those. They're in my special room upstairs. Framed and on the wall.

Q: Is there a chance of a cross-over with any other Marvel characters and franchises since it happens so often in the comics?

Johnson: Man, I'd love that.

Cage: Look, I would actually like to see it. To actually have the comic book characters team-up? Because, and once again I'm speaking to the Ghost Rifer family, we all know that Ghost Rider can kick Spider-Man's ass! With one look. And I want to see that happen.

Q: Eva, what was the allure for you to do a comic book movie?

Mendes: Well, two of the allures are sitting right next to me. I'm a huge Nic Cage fan, and Mark Steven Johnson, I love this dude. I really didn't know much about comic books at all and then speaking to these guys and getting into it a little bit. Honestly, I wanted to have some kind of effect. I had a little superhero envy because I wanted some kind of extra arm. I don't know. Something! But I really enjoyed playing Roxanne. She's lovely. She's a reporter. She doesn't have fire coming out of her skull.

Johnson: I remembered you saying, "I don't want to be just the chick." Cut to you later with the dress torn and the shotgun. Shooting Blackheart.

Mendes: "Johnny! Johnny! Save me!" But it was fun.

Cage: Eva added a lot of fun to the character and to the movie. There's great scenes of her with a magic eight ball. The toy you would ask questions to. A lot of humor to it.

Q: How was working with Peter Fonda?

Cage: It was great. I'm such a fan of Peter. I grew up watching Peter Fonda. For me, it was the perfect choice in that he was Captain America [in Easy Rider] and I thought if there was going to be a Luciferian version of a bike film then that would be the perfect choice to get Johnny Blaze to sell his soul to Captain America.

Johnson: It's actually our first crossover. With Captain America. [laughter]

Q: Mark, how about the delay of the movie? Is there still a lot more work to do?

Johnson: No, we're close now but we still wouldn't have been ready. We actually really lucked out. We were supposed to come out in August. They saw the movie, really liked it and pushed us up to July, which was the second week of Pirates of the Caribbean. Most of all they liked the movie and there are things I always wanted to get in the movie, some really great bike stuff, which was very expensive and pick-up stuff. It was great that they gave us a couple of days to pick that stuff up and the flaming skull was literally still being worked on. It went down to the wire to get it perfect. It's a hard thing, as you know, if that doesn't work the character doesn't work and the movie doesn't work. So we thought we were so close we just didn't want to rush it.

Q: Are you open for a sequel and are you guys all signed for one?

Johnson: Not sure.

Cage: My theory on sequels is that they have to be better than the original so I'm open. I just have to see a script and then talk about it. But I loved working with Mark, Eva. It would be great to do something again. I just want to make sure we can do something to improve even on the original. Whatever you can do to keep going, make it one step better. I think the original's really good so it would mean a lot of sitting down and thinking about it.

Q: Who are your favorite comic book characters?

Cage: Well, Ghost Rider. But I liked the monsters as a kid. I fantasized about being able to turn into the monster to scare the bully away. I think little boys and girls when they see the werewolves movies, like The Wolf Man, it's very exciting. Monsters are fun to play. And with Ghost Rider, I got a chance to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. I got to be in a horror film, in the grand sense of The Wolf Man, and a comic book-based movie. So, yes, to answer your question, Ghost Rider, the Hulk. Those were my real introductions into the comic book world because they stimulated my imagination so much.

Q: How much violence is going to be in this since the comic book has quite a lot?

Johnson: Yeah, quite a bit. It's an intense movie. Even though we were here [Comic-Con] last year, I'm happy to be here even more this year because we get to show some stuff. Last we had nothing to show.

Q: Nic, you have a Ghost Rider tattoo on your arm?

Cage: I have a flaming skull on my arm, yes, but it's whatever you want it to be.

Q: Does it show up in the movie?

Cage: No, my tattoos are for me. [laughter]

Johnson: That was the great irony. That we had to cover-up his flaming skull tattoo in the Ghost Rider movie.

Q: Were you worried at all about the other hell movies, like Constantine? Will Ghost Rider be in hell at all?

Johnson: For myself, I actually liked Constantine. I thought it got a bad rap. I think it's a better movie than most people give it credit for. There have been a lot of movies about this subject and it's tough because you have to build your own world and I never wanted to go into hell. I really didn't want it to be Spawn. That's not the movie we wanted to make. I wanted to make something on this world and it's far out enough with the flaming skull and the Hellcycle that we don't need to be going there, too. We just had to create our own version of this and I thought using the end of days was fascinating and the idea of fallen angels is fascinating. That's a really fantastic world and to put that into the shape of a Western, this Gothic Western, which I've never seen before. There's nothing like it.

Cage: You have to find the right balance to get it. It's a very fine line and you have to blend the joy of absurdity and comedy with truly scary imagery. I think the best example of that I'd ever seen before was American Werewolf in London. That was the template in my mind's eye that I wanted to try to aspire to get into that zone. Because I loved that movie when I went to see it and I never forgot it.

Johnson: I've always said that's the closest to our movie as far as tone goes. American Werewolf in London. It's got that feel where you're laughing and it's really scary and it's really intense. You're on the edge of your seat.

Q: For all of you, would you do another comic book movie? Not necessarily Ghost Rider.

Cage: Oh, absolutely. I think the comic book movie is a wonderful way to entertain a lot of people. People love comic books on film. I knew it was going to happen because I was an enthusiast at a young age and I knew that with modern technology when they started taking Batman to the screen and Spider-Man that they were just going to be enormous. But getting back to your question, the thing about comic book films is it's a fantasy world and it's thoroughly entertaining and it doesn't rely on gratuitous violence and you can charm children and adults alike. I'm very happy for it. It's almost a perfect medium for film, the comic book-based story structure, and I would be happy to do more. I think I would like to try to generate my own. Why, just the other day, yesterday in fact, my son Weston and I had a meeting with Virgin Comics, and I said I wouldn't announce but I am going to announce it, Weston has developed a character and they agreed to five issues of it. So we'll see how that works out. I promised I wouldn't say too much but it'll be Cage and Cage comic books at Richard Branson's company with Gotham Chopra, Deepak's son, is involved and so we're all talking. 

Q: Much has been said about comic books being our modern mythology. How does Ghost Rider fit into that along with Superman, Batman?

Johnson: What makes this one so different for me is, there's a couple of different themes in the movie, this one's really about choice. Something that Nic had come up with during the shooting about second chances and about how everyone deserves a second chance and that's shown in the most graphic way we could, and the most horrifying and interesting and dramatic way we could. I feel like there are really big themes in this film. We're dealing with heaven and hell and we're in a big playground. It's not a character that puts on Spandex and fights evil. It's so evil. People keep saying comic book movies and it is but he's a superhero of a very different sort. I think there hasn't been one like it in quite a long time. I always felt like Nic was the Lon Chaney of his generation in a way, that's the biggest compliment I can give. When you see him today, quick cuts of him transforming, it's fantastic. If this was black and white, it would be awesome. It would be Lon Chaney, it would be Bela Lugosi. It's fantastic. No one could do it like Nic could.

Q: How difficult was it to come up with an opponent for this character?

Johnson: Really difficult because when you're Ghost Rider, you're the coolest guy in the world. Usually, your villain is tougher than your hero. As far as looks go, no one can be cooler than that. So when we came up with the Blackheart idea, the son of the devil's pretty tough, too. So we went big and Wes Bentley does a great job in that role. We didn't want to go bigger because Ghost Rider's so big that if you go with a villain who's bigger it becomes a goofy monster movie. And you lose all the human elements of it so we wanted to try and keep it more human.

[MacGuffin]

New Trailer here.

[killafilm]

It atleast has the cast going for it.

[MacGuffin]

Mark Steven Johnson Talks Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider writer-director Mark Steven Johnson returned to the SHH! Boards and cleared up some things about the new trailer:

I just wanted to say thanks for both the kind words and the criticisms on the new trailer. It all goes towards making a better movie. There's a couple things I thought I'd mention that might help explain what you're seeing. First, the TRANSFORMATION. Ghost Rider is a PG-13 movie, albeit, a very intense PG-13 movie. The MPAA governs the movie trailers as well. And one of the rules is that you can't show people on fire in a PG-13 trailer. Obviously, this presents a problem for us. So for the fans who have wondered if that's all there is for the transformation -- God no. Not by a long shot. But that's all we can show. In fact, we had to cut many shots out of the trailer for being too intense or horrific. I'm hoping to post something on the official site on a blog in the next 24 hours so be sure to check there. Just make sure you download before it gets yanked off. Second, the VOICE. The voice of Ghost Rider can't be judged on an internet trailer. There are multiple tracks of animal growls, fire, rusty chains, etc. mixed into Ghost Rider's voice. But all of those tracks have to be terribly condensed into a trailer like this and so all you can really hear is a deep, raspy voice. Trust me, GR's voice will rock the movie house. Third, the HUMOR. Ghost Rider is not a jokey movie. It just has humor to balance the intensity (some of which you can't see in the trailer for reasons stated above). Remember that to us Ghost Rider is a known character. But to the general public he is very dark and intimidating. The marketing team are just (wisely) trying to reach as broad an audience as they can and move beyond the core group. Fourth, BLACKHEART. What you've seen in Mephisto and Blackheart are glimpes into their demons forms. But by the end of the film Blackheart will evolve into his BEAST form. You haven't seen that yet, I'm saving it. It's not exactly the comic, but it's closer, demonic, and spikey! Fifth, the POSTER. There will be multiple images to sell the movie. Some will be about the love story, the Beauty & The Beast, while others will be hardcore Skull shots. Keep an eye out for new images soon. Hope that helps. I'll check in again soon.

[MacGuffin]

[MacGuffin]

International Trailer

[Pas]

No one went or what ? Surprising... Cage ! come on !

As usual, Nic Cage is so fucking awesome. Maybe even more so than as usual. He totally IS Ghost Rider.

The best thing about the movie is Cage, then comes the humor (funniest superhero movie I think) and also the effects. I hadn't been thrilled about CGI since basically never. Everything looks cool probably except the 4 evil characters that are kinda lame and really fucking weak.

The worst part is the whole conflict against the villains. The idea is really really good, but the villains are so lame and SO easy to beat it's not even funny.

Also I didn't get the ending so if someone could explain to me how it happened thanks

WOW I reread this post and I feel like I am posting on the IMDB forums !!! 

[matt35mm]

... I feel like I am posting on the IMDB forums !!! 

But you're not.

[MacGuffin]

Another comic adaptation placed in the wrong hands. It actually started off quite good with the prologue... but then the characters grew up and the interest in film dropped sharply. Much like Fantastic Four and Daredevil, the idea and kernels of a story are there (mostly because of the comics doing much of the work), just helmed by the wrong director and a bad script. The love story falls flat not only because of a superficial relationship, but largely because Eva Mendez Cannot Act. Pas is right about the villans; they really weren't much of a challenge. The FX of the Rider are fine, but it looks like all the time and energy were solely placed on that character alone.

[picolas]

for the record it's an epic disaster of imagination and humanity.

and someone stupidly points at something every five minutes.

[MacGuffin]

Ghost Rider Latest Marvel Movie to Rev
By: Mike Fleming; Variety

Columbia Pictures has begun to rev the throttle on a second installment of the Marvel Comics character "Ghost Rider."

David Goyer is in early talks to create the story and supervise writers for a film expected to once again star Nicolas Cage, who played the highly flammable cyclist in the 2007 original.   

Through a spokesperson, Goyer said he hadn't signed on yet. But plans are already under way to base the sequel on a "Ghost Rider" script written years ago by Goyer, whose superhero work includes hit screen transfers of DC's "Batman Begins" and Marvel's "Blade" franchise. The original "Ghost Rider" was scripted by director Mark Steven Johnson.

"Ghost Rider" will be produced by former Marvel topper Avi Arad, Michael De Luca and Steven Paul, with Gary Foster executive producer.

The activity on "Ghost Rider" follows a flurry of activity on Marvel characters at almost every studio but Disney, which acquired Marvel Entertainment in a $4 billion deal. 

Fox is: rebooting "Fantastic Four" with "Green Lantern" scribe Michael Green and producer Akiva Goldsman; mobilizing a "Wolverine" sequel and several "X-Men" spinoffs; is quietly developing a new version of "Daredevil" and working on a Silver Surfer film. Sony recently set James Vanderbilt to write the fifth and sixth installments of "Spider-Man," and Universal continues work on "Sub-Mariner." Paramount continues as distributor for "Iron Man 2" and several others expected to include "Thor" and "Captain America."

The activity is necessary for those studios to keep the superhero properties. If the properties atrophy, they can be reclaimed by Marvel Entertainment, which happened with such properties as Dr. Strange, Black Panther and Iron Man, the latter of which languished at New Line before Marvel turned it into the self-financed blockbuster. 

Those properties were repossessed by Arad when he ran Marvel from 1993-2007, when he left to start a film company with son Ari just after Marvel locked in its $525 million credit facility. Arad said he left because he was exhausted, and because he was convinced that his number two, Kevin Feige, was ready to take over. That belief is reinforced by Feige's emergence as a possible replacement for Disney film topper Dick Cook, because he made a strong impression on Bob Iger during the Marvel deal making talks. 

While the plethora of superheroes at other studios and Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park has raised skepticism over Marvel's acquisition price, Arad doesn't see the $4 billion price tag as untoward. He said the number validated the vision that he and Ike Perlmutter had when they implored creditors to spurn a $350 million cash offer from Carl Icahn, when Marvel was in bankruptcy in the late 1990s. Arad argued at the time that interest by several studios in "Spider-Man" alone meant that the film could be a billion dollar enterprise. Since then, X-Men and Blade also joined that billion dollar club, and Iron Man is well on the way.   

Arad—who is producing both Marvel's "Ghost Rider" and "Spider-Man" at Columbia—said that on films that Disney doesn't distribute, Marvel gets lucrative first dollar gross fees, and is well compensated for the use of its characters in the Universal theme park. The acquisition's real upside, the library of Marvel characters, can be mined for decades, Arad said. 

The Goyer-scripted "Blade" trilogy, Marvel's first film success, is a good example.

"The character was virtually unknown, didn't even have his own comic book, and had been part of `Tombs of Dracula,'" Arad said. "It tells you what can happen if you unleash a library with the right creative partners."

Arad mentioned Dr. Strange, Nick Fury, Power Pack, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers as prime movie properties. 

"I had this poster of the Marvel universe, with these beautifully drawn characters, and we used to say you could throw a dart, hit a character and make a hit movie under the Marvel brand," Arad said. "There is long list yet to be unleashed. I think this will look like a smart deal over time, because Disney is a company that knows how to exploit a brand."

Arad is separately developing a slate that includes the Catherine Hardwicke-directed adaptation of the James Patterson novel series "Maximum Ride" at Columbia, "Ghost in the Shell" for DreamWorks. Arad has also secured rights to make a CGI animated feature based on the venerable strongman "Popeye."