More ‘Ghost Rider’ sequel news

Despite the poor reception afforded the original, a sequel to Ghost Rider has been on the cards for some time. Last we heard from writer David Goyer was that the film was definitely going to be a sequel and not a reboot – well times change and now Collider are reporting that the film is to be a “reset” rather than a reboot (what’s the difference?), according to producer Mike DeLuca:

Reset is a good way to put it. Because I thought even with the Ghost Rider comic there were so many iterations. It’s one of those characters that’s almost like a blank slate. Even the rules of it and his powers and the way in some runs of the comic, the bike is a physical thing that gets turned into a hell cycle. In some versions of the comic he shoots the hell cycle out of his hands and there’s no real bike at all. You know, there’s just little differences as each artist and writer tackled the character that kind of frees us to be different with this next movie, but it is pushing the reset button, and I think putting the character in kind of an appropriate darker context.

This time round the film is to be based on a 2001 script by David Goyer that also includes an original idea by Nicolas Cage, the film currently carries the title Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, but like anything else on this project, that may change somewhere down the line. However for now this is the current state of play, as told to Collider by De Luca:

1) Original director Mark Steven Johnson will not be back for the sequel. Neither will Eva Mendes.

2) The sequel will also be set in Europe as previously rumoured. Apparently this was the idea that Cage brought to the table:

The idea was because Ghost Rider is a unique blend of theology and action and the character deals with the kind of battle of good vs. evil in a theological sense, that Europe you could avail yourself of a lot of religious sites and kind ancient religious site and a history of theology as a setting that isn’t available in the U.S. We wanted to kind of signal that we’re as different from the first movie just because we want to be fresh and new as you can get in terms of getting away from southwestern kind of pseudo-western thing.

3) The film-makers are going down the The Dark Knight route and aiming for a hard PG-13 rating.

4) David Goyer may possibly step behind the camera to direct:

It’ll be a new director but David would be kind of a new director to the mix in terms of not having done anything with Ghost Rider before. I’ve talked about it with him just because I’m a fan of David’s. A lot depends on his schedule and a lot depends on where we are when the script comes in, but I think just for me personally, this is just me speaking not Avi Arad or the studios, I have tremendous respect for David, I always have. We did Blade together when I was at New Line, and I thought the Flash Forward pilot was one of the best episodic pieces of TV direction I’ve seen in a long time, so I’d be excited to have that conversation with David if and when we get up to that point and schedules permit. But I want to keep it, and he knows this too, we want to keep it open for the right person to present themselves and if that could be David or it might be someone else, but I think we’ll know more after we read the draft. 

I’ve have to say that all those involved with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance are really going to have to pull off something special in order to wipe away the bad taste left in the audience’s mouths by the original film. I thought that film wasn’t the worst superhero film I’ve seen, but it definitely ranks down there in the doldrums of bad adaptations…

But what do you think about a rebooted Ghost Rider franchise? Will you give it a go, or has the first film ruined the series for you?