The NY Post caused havoc earlier this week, claiming that Sony would not be holding early press screenings for Ghost Rider. No press screenings usually means that the studio lacks confidence in the finished film. Sony slamed back claiming the film will get screened to critics nationwide, late Thursday night. But that doesn’t give critics much time to spread the good (or bad) word about the film, does it? I haven’t seen the flick yet, but my people tell me it’s not good.
So it came as a huge surprise that producer Avi Arad announced development on a sequel. Is this for REEL, or is it a deflective PR move?
Arad revealed the news at a press-event for the film on Friday. The Marvel producer seemed confident that Nicolas Cage would return as Johnny Blaze. Director Mark Steven Johnson stood by his side during the announcement, so one must assume that he would be brought back as well.
Production on Ghost Rider was pushed back to make way for better computer animation technology. Now that the technology for the FX is in place, Ghost Rider 2 could be streamlined for a 2009 release (our estimate). But for some reason I think this sequel announcement is to combat the bad press from the NY Post blog post. It creates hype, gives people the false sense that the film is so great that a sequel is already in development. But if the film flops, I’m sure the project will fall into development hell. So from my viewpoint, it’s more of a premptive PR announcement.
Ghost Rider hits theaters on February 16th 2007.
February 10th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I’m with you, Mr. Sciretta. The announcement of a sequel was as transparent a PR move as I’ve seen lately (ok, this week) from Hollywood. If Ghost Rider does well, of course there’ll be a sequel. If there’s a sequel and that doesn’t reasonably well, then we’ll start hearing about how Ghost Rider was always meant to be the first film in a “planned trilogy.” I, for one, can’t wait to see it.
February 14th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
your people say its not good huh? well fuck them and fuck you…nicolas cage rules…
February 14th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
To which I can only add, I didn’t realize this post was about man-love for Mr. Cage. If it is, maybe Mr. Sciretta can hook you up with a cardboard cutout of Mr. Cage for your bedroom.
February 15th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
dude you’d better shut your fucking mouth…
February 15th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Now, now, don’t get your feather boa all in a bunch.
Here’s a pointer for you: if you use rude language, don’t expect a civil response. The sooner you learn that, the better everyone gets along.
February 16th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Heresy! Ghost Rider was bloody AWESOME!
My only complaint about a possible sequel is the apparent lack of Danny Ketch. C’mon, people, I wanna see some Noble Kale ownage!
February 17th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
ok mr. fyodor_fish i hear ya i’m wit wolf the movie was awesome the only thing i didn’t like is that the fight scenes wern’t that long he killed each one in like a minute or two flat it was all about the chases…if there is a number 2 i hope the bad guy is scarecrow, and i hope he kills him in more time than blackheart he killed the “final” blackheart in like 2 minutes…c’mon thats not cool it took spider-man longer than that to get bit by the spider…but still a good movie…
February 18th, 2007 at 9:18 am
errr… does your people really know how to critisize a movie? do they even know what a good movie looks like? the whole movie was freakin’ awesome, and nicolas cage really is right and carries johnny blaze nicely… to say that it sucks? or it wasn’t good is stupid…. plain stupid…. tell your friends to start watching REAL awesome movies like this and stop watching movies that really sucks like “GLITTER”
February 19th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
wooooo! i support home boy 110%…(stupid_critics)
February 19th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Hey, if it makes you feel better to trash critics when they disagree with you, then go for it. I’m sure you use a critic or critics to back you up when they agree with you too, right?
Either way, you’re seriously delusional if you think “Ghost Rider” is anywhere near a “good” movie. It’s not. Mark Steven Johnson aimed for the lowest common demoninator and barely reached that high (or that low). Awful dialogue, unfunny gags, lazy characterizations, plot points we’ve seen tens of thousands of times before. All it had was decent special effects sequences. So what? He had $100 million dollars to work with.
Let the flaming begin (or continue)!
February 21st, 2007 at 7:29 pm
The film was freaking AWESOME!!! Screw anyone who says it isn’t. They’re all buttheads. Nicolas Cage rules, and Ghost Rider rocks my sox off!!!!!
February 21st, 2007 at 7:32 pm
freaking AWESOME, buttheads, rocks my sox off… looks like Murder has some valid points :P
February 21st, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Indeed, Mr. Sciretta, indeed. I hereby forfeit any and all arguments against the sheer awesomeness (that’s 100 different kinds of awesome for us mere mortals) to Murder’s post upthread.
But before I leave this thread once and for all, I’ll leave everyone with my favorite William Shatner moment:
KHAAAAAN!!!!
February 21st, 2007 at 10:09 pm
What A Faggot…
February 21st, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Again with the juvenile insults? I’m disappointed in you, Chris. How could you stoop so low?
Oh wait, I know. Because you have nothing else to add to the conversation. That and your man-crush on Nicholas Cage (which you yourself mentioned up top). Methinks thou protest too much.
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pm
….why are you back? didn’t you leave?
February 25th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Actually the movie provided what I wanted, A distraction from the ordinary and a look at todays movie technology. in both circles Ghost Rider met the criteria. Entertainment value must be judged on an individual basis. If we all clones of one person then only one of us would need to review a movie,book, play or event. If you were entertained by the movie as I was then count yourself amongst those that got what they were looking for. You don’t go to a comic book adaptation expecting War&Peace level drama or academy performances. You go for the Wow factor. I’m recommending the movie to my contemporaries.
February 27th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Why in the heck am I getting mail from this site??? What the bloody heck? All I did was make one comment. I did not subscribe to this site. The movie is still awesome, thank you very much and I hope and pray with all my soul that they make a second one. Hopefully as good as the first one (doubtful, but, hey). For those of you who did not like the movie, you obviously have been watching the brain washing crap waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much. Or…you have absolutely no taste in good movies. Either one is absolutely plausible.
February 27th, 2007 at 10:42 am
I find it deeply disturbing, not to mention sad, that Mark Steven Johnson can’t leave well enough alone and has to use sock puppets to try and bolster critical opinion of his badly written, ineptly executed film.
I, for one, could care less about a Ghost Rider sequel. Chances are, it won’t get made. Ghost Rider cost $125 mil to make (not counting marketing) and it might, just might, make that much at the U.S. box office. Outside of strong overseas sales and, of course, DVD sales (Mark will buy a thousand copies, I bet), GR will go the way of Daredevil, a one-and-done modestly successful comic-book adaptation.
As for those of you who think GR is a great film, please do us all a favor and get your head out of your…either that or start watching movies made before 1999. It’ll do you some good (not to mention all the embarrassment it’ll save you down the road).
February 27th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Everyone has a valid opinion, way shoot others down? Is it because most people are just so insecure that they have to feel like they’re coming out on top in a verbal sparring match? I wonder. Like or hate, who cares.
I, personally, loved the movie. Nicolas Cage did a fantastic job, and even though the storyline could’ve used a little more fighting, it was a great ride, and I hope there is a sequel made, even though sequels are generally not as good. Ah well, such is life.
And then there was the soundtrack. It rocked. Now I just have to find it at the shops. Has it even been released there yet?
March 1st, 2007 at 9:04 am
Yeah, I want to get the soundtrack too. I’ll have to go look for it.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:35 am
It should have followed the comic book more than it did. That is a HUGE problem with comic book movies.
Hey, it had a cowboy, a motorcycle, a WHIP, FIRE, AND a SKELETON!!!!
And the bad guy is evil itself!
What more do you want???
BUT, blackheart???? COME ON!!!! Could’ve done better than that for a name, YESSSSH!
I’m going to get the DVD, hope it adds about 1/2 hour. I did enjoy the movie. HAVE to agree, the fights were waaaay short. The movie should have been 2 hours 20 minutes. Seen it 3 times now.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:56 am
Fyodor Fish, at least we can agree on two things (a) Ghost rider is bad and (b) so are movies post 1999…
except the Prequel trilogy, haha!
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
yeah the soundtrack is gonna rule, ghost riders in the sky by spiderbait sounds awesome…
March 12th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
hello ghost rider was and is a good movie and as for what Fyodor_Fish has to say about films pre 1999 being in my mid 20’s i can rember more than a few of them and not all of them where that grate there was on notable bad one in 1997 that will remain namless but lets just say it centred around 5 girls with no brains and little talent so yes the fights where short and the story did a times seam a little ropey and it could have doe wid eathera little more back storie or longer fights as a fan of the gr comics i have to mention that thay gave him the bike of anouther ghost rider but when u go to see movie adapations of comic books you dont go looking for realism or shakespear like acting what u do go to see is 1 an a half to 2 hs of pure escapeism from the real world ok that being said the sound track was exalent the graphics where superb but for a movie costing 125 million what u expect but at the end of the day when ll issaid and done every one is entitled to an opinon wid out fear of being derided as a fool or any thing els grow up and let ppl have there say wd out shooting them down for it every opinion is as valid and worthy as the next thank for being o pachient and reading this novel that is to hose who did lol (and before any one says any ting i so apoligise for any spelin mistakes but as a dsylexic it cant e helped but try my best ;-P)
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I think the movie is out of this world in a good way. Also the action and awesome killing is perfict for a 10 year old BOY!!!!!!
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:56 pm
EXCITING WONDERFUL AWESOME and EXHILARTING with GO SEE IT TODAY OR YOU’ll MISS OUT! MY SON AND I CANT WAIT FOR THE SEQUEL.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:42 am
I can’t WAIT! for the DVD to come out. I’m getting it, no matter what. I hope they add some special features and maybe some extra stuff. I hope and pray that they do a decent sequel.
April 11th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Ghost rider will not get as much recognition as it will deserve. When i heard Cage was the main actor i thought to myself, he is too skinny and ugly to play the hero, however i lernt by watching this that good looks and muscles arnt as important as being genuine when acting. Cage has gone down in my book as an under-rated character in my view because he simply does an outstanding job.
The movie also poses a question to me, we have seen countless movies about the devil and its getting a bit clichéd. It seems that we have an admiratoin for evil, what im wondering is where are the movies about God Vs the Devil, since its hollywood the outcome is obvious but it would be better than a guy whos head is on fire Vs the devil which it will be in Ghost Rider 2, which is annouced and will be streamed in 2009 if all goes to plan.
June 4th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
What do lernt and arnt mean? Please do not try to spread your horrible mispellings around the internet, Sir_Nelly.
June 10th, 2007 at 5:16 am
I am not a Cage fan, but am a Rider fan for more than 15 years. I thought the movie did every fan justice. It was an amazing show produced by the Arid family. I will stand that GR2 would be greatly appreciated by fans
June 14th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
THAT MOVIE KICKS FRICKEN ASS TO THE MAX I LOVED IT SO BAD NICK CAGE LOOKED AMAZING IN ALL THAT LEATHER AND WHEN HE TOOK HIS SHIRT OFF I WAS LIKE HOLY HELL THAT GUY IS 43 HOW DOES HE LOOK THAT AMAZING!!!!!!IVE WATCHED LIKE 6 BILLION TIMES NOW AND I WILL NEVEr GET SICK OF IT EVER!!!!!!!CANT WAIT FOR THE 2nd ONE I WISH I HAD A TIME MACHINE SO I COULD GO FORWARD IN TIME AND WATCH IT RITE NOW AND THEN COME BACK AND TELL ALL THE PEOPLE HERE ABOUT THE AWESOMENESS THEY HAVE TOO LOOK FORWARD TOO!!!!!
YAY!!!!!!!!
June 18th, 2007 at 9:26 am
It rocked. Honestly, I expected the movie to be much worse. What I found was one of very few comic adaptations that gives proper justice to the original.
I’m not really sure if I should like the fact that the plot is much of a mix between the first Ghost Rider an the second one, but I cannot deny the that it did work well for the movie.
Even more, the amount of references to the comic book characters, events and storylines is simply staggering. Captain Dolan, Wallow, Blackheart… heck, even that hellfire-spitting shotgun near the end. And who can forget about Carter Slade, the first Marvel character to use the name of Ghost Rider (renamed to Phantom Rider when the Johnny Blaze version of Ghost Rider started)?
As a big fan of Ghost Rider, I found those small tidbits immensely contributing to my overall enjoyment of the movie.
Here’s to hoping in GR II we’ll see more of that - and some more villains, of course (Vengeance, anyone?)
PS. Regarding the comment posted by Scientist on March 2nd: Blackheart’s name wasn’t made up for the movie. A character of this name appeared as a villain in the second series of Ghost Rider - and happens to be the son of Mephisto.
July 11th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
i thought it was awsome i want to be in the next ghost rider movie
July 16th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Hey the person who wrote this FUCK YOU! ghost rider is one of th best movies ever!
July 16th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
Hey Kyle. Get a grip, man. Try expressing yourself and your opinion, such as it is, with respect for other people’s opinions. In other words, lay off the cursing. It doesn’t make you sound like an adult. It makes you sound like a ten year old who just discovered the word “fuck.”
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:55 am
what a bunch of stupid fucking idiots. ghost rider was the best fucking film of 2007, and i personally hope they make 50 more. what a bunch of cry baby sissy lala pussies.
“A THOUSAND souls to burn-look into my eyes,your souls are stained by the blood of the innocent-FEEL THERE PAIN!”
July 26th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
HELL YA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
September 7th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
I am so happy about another Ghost Rider movie!!! Like Nicolas Cage, I am also a huge fan of the Ghost Rider series. In fact, if I had to name a favorite comic book character from Marvel, I would choose Ghost Rider every time. Overall comic books, I am pretty sure that Ghost Rider would still be number one (racing against the Flash, Batman and Robin [Tim Drake]). The story is so unique compared to other stories and I really like that darker side that Ghost Rider brings to the otherwise Superhero world of hope. I think the movie was a very good rendition of the story and there were some aspects that I thought made it such an entertaining film. Like introducing the penance stare that originally belonged to Danny Ketch and making the story more simple by naming Barton Blaze the one that Johnny sold his soul for instead Crash Simpson. For some reason, those who did not know of the story could not understand why Johnny Blaze was able to figure out how to deal with the fallen angels so fast. To me, it was obvious that the Ghost Rider is a separate entity that has been around for ages but for some, there was ambiguity. I hope that they go into the origins of Zarathos and introduce him a little more. If I had to choose, I would name Scarecrow the supervillian If it is done right, perhaps with another dealing with the devil (*hint), it would blow the Batman’s scarecrow out of the running (No offense because I love Batman’s scarecrow too). Also I wish they would play up Roxanne’s role slightly. Eva Mendez did a great job but I think the eight ball at the table is not enough carny background for the character. I mean come on! She was part of the whole motorcyle act. She can ride too, probably not jump, but she was like Johnny’s crew!! I think that needs to be brought into the story. I have lots of suggestions but I guess I am going to have to put my faith into Hollywood so Good Luck Nicolas Cage and Everyone!!
October 22nd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
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October 27th, 2007 at 3:00 am
FUCK YOU BITCHES! THERE WILL BE NO GHOST RIDER TWO! FUCK YOU ALL SONS OF BITCHES! FUCK YOUR FUCKING MOTHER”S VAGINA!
January 13th, 2008 at 4:07 am
Well to be honest there is a long standing tradition that the first film in a series (especially comics) is generally crap, just look at Fantastic 4. Part 1 of 4 was okay but the storyline kind of dragged for awhile but was needed to introduce those ignorant to the origins of the characters. For the origin story this movie was well done in the fact that it fit the time limit that most people would not be saying,”It’s too long!”. To get a good story in any of these intro films and give the background we would be watching a film 4 hours long! No Thanks! That is why the second movie in a series is usually better (X-men for example). GR does an adequate job of exploring the origins of the “rider” while mixing in the most possible story that would fit in to a roughly 2 hour frame. It can be said that the fights could have been a bit longer but the main action sequence don’t forget is the police chase of the GR. This left little time for an extended fight scene but the fight with Blackheart could have been longer, afterall he is the lead villain. The graphics were wonderful especially the first transform scene. However the character name Blackheart does have a historical reference for the person who complained about it before. Blackheart was the nickname given to Andrew Jackson by many native tribes of the US for the level of evil they feel he released upon them. But in the end we must remember that GR is a dark character in the comics and has been made so in the first film. Now IF the sequel is made then we will see if the character will be allowed to stretch his bones.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
I don’t know alot about the new Ghost Rider but I do know this. The crittics these day need to get over them selfs. I am getting drivin out of my mind by these people thinking they know what is considerd good or bad, It’s not like 1 or 2 people can decide something like that. How would they like it if I went on T.V. and told them that the shirt or pants or opinion sucked. I think people are tired of celebrities giving thier opinions to them. Crittics are the most useless people in the world, I mean what real use are they? They tell you what thwy think about a movie or song like you can’t make up your own mind. I personly don’t think they should get a early viewing of any movie. Well they do say those that can’t do complain. I personly can’t wait for the next G.R. movie no matter what those lard butts think. Nicolas Cage did a great job and I hope he can continue as Jonny Blaze in the next movie. I know this is only my opinon and it doesn’t mean much in this world but I ndo hope someone reads it and is inspired to also think for themselfs