14 DAY TRIAL // Though reports of a sequel to the story of the flaming bike rider from hell, “Ghost Rider,” have been around ever since the release of the first film, nothing positive has come out of them yet. Now, Columbia is reportedly in quite a pickle with Marvel, being forced to commit to the second film by the end of this year, or lose distribution rights. This puts Nicolas Cage’s participation under a huge question mark, NY Mag’s Vulture section has learned.
Though the first movie was more or less of a flop in terms of reception with comic books fans (it certainly did tank as far as critical reception is concerned), Columbia believes it has a potential successful franchise on its hands. The only problem is that it has to commit to another film by November 2010 or lose its chance. On the other hand, Cage, who has often said he’d love to do a second film, might not be in a position to do the film on such a short notice.
Therefore, Columbia is bent on going ahead with the sequel even if Cage is not involved in it – though, right now, it’s in talks with Marvel for an extension, Vulture says. “How badly does Columbia need to get the motor running on its Ghost Rider sequel? So badly that if Nicolas Cage can’t commit to making it this year, they may have to make it without him. Insiders confirm to Vulture that Columbia is facing a ticking clock on the rights to the BBQ-skulled Marvel Comics character: Legally, if the studio isn’t in production on a sequel by November 14, 2010, the franchise automatically reverts to Marvel – which means the comic company’s new owner, Disney,” the e-zine says.
If the sequel does go ahead without Cage (who, right now, actually happens to have his hands full), this would mean Columbia is taking a huge risk. First of all, Ghost Rider is not as well known a character as, say, Iron Man is, therefore the studio needs Cage’s star-power to draw audiences in theaters. Second of all, if fans were not really dying for the first one, which did star Cage, why would they go and see a film that doesn’t have him in it. In the end, this could be just a business decision – and Columbia is not willing to compromise anything to keep “Ghost Rider,” even if that means going ahead without Nicolas Cage.
“But Columbia needs to hold onto this franchise so badly, they may be willing to risk going with someone else. After all, if they’re worried about how an audience might react to a Cage-less Ghost Rider, they can then remember how they dumped the original 2007 movie into theaters in the barren month of February to miserable reviews (even the usually magnanimous Peter Travers at Rolling Stone dismissed it as ‘the soul-sucking devil of modern cinema: Hollywood formula’), and it still grossed almost $230 million worldwide. Logic may be irrelevant when it comes to this character: Hell, maybe they should cast the ghost of Dick Sargent to ride the motorcycle,” Vulture concludes by saying.