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Now that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is in theaters, those moviegoers who saw the first movie but haven't been following news about the latest chapter in Columbia Pictures' franchise based on Marvel Comics' demonic anti-hero might be a little confused, and rightfully so. After all, Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze, a man cursed to share his soul with the entity known as the Ghost Rider, but just about everything else is different, from Ghost Rider's origin to his look and his powers. What's up with that?
In a recent interview with GeekChicDaily, daredevil directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank movies) explained how Spirit of Vengeance is a "re-quel" and not a sequel or complete reboot, discussed the Rider's new look and revealed that Cage performed in skull-face to get into character and intimidate "the hell out of the other actors."
what did neveldine & taylor say? >> Posted 02.18.12 by BrentJS -
Writer-directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine are known for creating eccentric and visually strange action movies (see the Crank movies for proof), which is why Columbia brought them on board to helm the upcoming sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. With Nicolas Cage back as the demonic anti-hero, Spirit of Vengeance will see if Taylor and Neveldine can succeed at winning over the comic book character's fans — something 2007's Ghost Rider failed to do. One thing's for sure, Neveldine told io9, the duo's signature "punk rock" approach to making movies hasn't changed.
The perception is that we're these guys who always do these f**ked-up movies, and now we're working with a big studio and a Marvel Comics character. People think, "Oh, it's the big time now!" No, this is about as punk rock as any shoot we've ever done, and more so in a lot of ways. We had times where major stunts would go completely wrong, but they failed so spectacularly. You don't have the time and money to do it again, so you have to rewrite the scene on the fly.
Ghost Rider 3, Crank 3 and Twisted Metal? >> Posted 02.16.12 by Ryan -
To get the word out about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Columbia Pictures has been peppering the airwaves with multiple TV spots and now the studio has released a series of preview clips from the movie that offers more footage of the new-and-improved Ghost Rider (Nicolas Cage) and showcases the sort of adrenaline-fueled filmmaking that directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine (Crank movies) bring to the franchise.
Though not a direct sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider — the demonic anti-hero's origin is retold and his look and powers are slightly different — Spirit of Vengeance catches up with Johnny Blaze (Cage) five years after the events in the first movie, living in Eastern Europe in self-imposed exile to prevent his match-headed alter-ego from resurfacing. But, when the devil (Ciarán Hinds) attempts to possess a 10-year-old boy (Fergus Riordan), Blaze comes out of retirement to help Moreau (Idris Elba) save the boy and send the devil and his minion, Blackout (Johnny Whitworth), back to hell.
watch the new preview clips >> Posted 02.12.12 by BrentJS -
Whereas most promotional campaigns for comic-based movies focus on the celebrity actor playing the superhero or the special effects and CGI used to empower the superhero, Columbia Pictures has chosen to spotlight the directing team of Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine (Crank movies) in the studio's latest releases about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. A couple of weeks ago, a batch of new set photos and still images were released that included more shots of the duo directing than it did of title star Nicolas Cage acting. Now, a new featurette has appeared online that pretty much makes the directors look like the movie's real superheroes as they repeatedly risk their lives to capture what promises to be some of the most incredible shots in a superhero movie in recent memory.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was written Scott M. Gimple, Seth Hoffman and David S. Goyer, from a story by Goyer. Idris Elba, Christopher Lambert, Violante Placido. Fergus Riordan, Johnny Whitworth and Ciarán Hinds also star.
MORE >> Posted 01.25.12 by BrentJS -
In an interview conducted during the beginning of principal photography on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance — a non-sequel sequel to Ghost Rider that takes place five years after the first movie — title star Nicolas Cage spoke very highly of the directing team of Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine (Crank movies). He called Taylor a "knowledgeable" filmmaker and credited him with inspiring him to return as Johnny Blaze, the damned superhero possessed by the "Spirit of Vengeance." Cage said that Neveldine was "doing things [he had] never seen a director do before," from "filming on roller blades" to "hanging on wires," describing him as a "stunt man, camera operator and director all in one."
A batch of new photos from the set of Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance have just been released that perfectly illustrate what Cage was talking about, with one showing Taylor putting his knowledge to work as he instructs Violante Placido in the proper way to hold a gun and two other amazing photos showing Neveldine being pulled behind a motorcyle on rollerblades and hanging from a wire to catch the perfect shots. In addition, a new still image from the movie has been released that shows what you need to fight The Devil (Ciarán Hinds) if you don't have the "Spirit of Vengeance" living inside of you the way Blaze does: Guns. Lots and lots of guns.
see the set photos and new still image >> Posted 01.08.12 by BrentJS -
One of the more memorable lines from to 2007's Ghost Rider came from Nicolas Cage: "Feel like my skull's on fire." That's not the only body part that ignites in the teaser trailer for the sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Directed by Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine (Crank), who also introduce the trailer, Spirit of Vengeance finds Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider (Cage), living in self-imposed exile in Eastern Europe and deciding to again embrace his dark side to save the life of a 10-year-old boy named Danny (Fergus Riordan) from the devil (Ciarán Hinds) and a demon named Blackout (Johnny Whitworth). Not much of that story is in the trailer, which is more interested in showing the new-look Ghost Rider, who now can not only spit back flaming bullets but can also... Well, you'll see.
watch the trailer >> Posted 08.19.11 by Ryan -
The official start of principal photography on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance began on Tuesday in Romania, as announced via the joint Twitter account of the writing-directing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Academy Award-winner Nicolas Cage returns as Johnny Blaze, the daredevil stunt rider who made a deal with the devil in Ghost Rider (2007) and became the bounty hunter of the damned known as Ghost Rider. The sequel finds Blaze hiding out in Eastern Europe until his demonic alter-ego is called upon to help save the soul of a young boy.
Neveldine and Taylor promptly followed up their initial announcement with an enthusiastic Tweet that offered a little insight into what they would be filming on the first day of the shoot.
idris elba, helicopters, motorcycles, russian arm[y] and the the Transfagarasanul.... HOLY SH*T
Elba joins the cast as an "alcoholic warrior monk" who convinces Blaze to help save the boy from his father (Ciarán Hinds), who happens to be the devil incarnate. The "Transfagarasanul" in the Tweet refers to the Romanian Transfagarasan Highway, a dramatic stretch of road running across the Carpathian Mountains and connecting Transylvania and Wallachia, home of Vlad the Impaler, who would later become known as Count Dracula.
Posted 11.04.10 by BrentJS -
The Ghost Rider 2 writing-directing team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor caused some confusion when they announced on their Twitter account that "the dual role of blaze/zarathos will be a Nic Cage classic." Many sites thought that this suggested that Cage would play both hero and villain in the upcoming sequel, titled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, despite the well established fact that Zarathos is the spirit that binds itself to Johnny Blaze when the character becomes the Ghost Rider. Taylor explained to Empire what he and Neveldine meant by the tweet.
read the explanation >> Posted 10.30.10 by Ryan -
The sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider, titled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, is currently shooting in Romania and has been given a release date. ComingSoon reports that Sony's Columbia Pictures have scheduled a February 17, 2012, release date, putting the sequel 5 years and a day from the original's release.
Nicolas Cage is returning to the role, with directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank) sharing directing duties. David Goyer supplied the script, which he initially wrote a decade ago as a "hard R" movie that was rewritten to be the sequel.
Script details revealed (possibly) >> Posted 09.19.10 by Ryan -
Production on Ghost Rider 2 is up against the clock. With a November 14 production deadline looming, it appeared like Nicolas Cage might be replaced so Columbia could produce the sequel before the Ghost Rider rights revert to Marvel Entertainment. Instead, Columbia is pushing forward with the sequel, hiring not one, but two directors for the project.
Crank writer/directors to work on ghost rider 2? >> Posted 06.16.10 by Ryan