Nicolas Cage Would Enter the Flames of Hell for a ‘Ghost Rider’ Trilogy
Nicolas Cage Would Enter the Flames of Hell for a ‘Ghost Rider’ Trilogy
Nicolas Cage once said he would never do a sequel, unless it somehow allowed his character to grow and it was something fresh and new. And there are certainly those who think sequels, like remakes, are a waste of creative potential. But, there is no denying the joy of sequels where fans can revisit their favourite character – perhaps most especially in the comic book adapted film genre – and experience them in a new context, a different story, and further down their own journey: exactly where we anticipate finding Johnny Blaze a few years on from living with his fiery curse in Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance, which will be flaming across our screens one week today.
However, as co-directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and Nicolas Cage himself are keen to point out in the latest run of publicity for the upcoming film, this is a ‘requel’ with an entirely different origins and story, where Johnny Blaze is in a very different place than in the first Ghost Rider movie.
“I think of it as an original movie in it’s own right, and that was also important to Mark and Brian. They didn’t want the film to correlate with the first one I did with Mark [Steven Johnson]– which I really like by the way, it’s exactly what I wanted to make, a movie that could connect with younger audiences too, like a Grimms’ fairytale; they were scary but accessible and memorable, and they endure. but with Spirit Of Vengeance, the idea was for Mark and Brian to reinvent the world Ghost Rider lives in. He’s on the lam in Eastern Europe, he’s been living with the curse for years and he’s not as innocent; he’s much more cynical. And this time I got to experiment with that kind of “mega-acting” I do, when things go into an operatic display.” A sentiment echoed by Mark Neveldine in a recent interview with fearsmag: “It’s a Requel. We have Nic Cage in the movie, we obviously kept that, but everything else is just based on a completely different story. It is its own beast. This script was actually based on David Goyer’s script from 10 years ago and that was before the first Ghost Rider film. So it is really its own movie. You have elements from Ghost Rider One, Nic is playing Johnny Blaze but that’s really about it.”
Not only that..but the film is shot by arguably the most maverick filmmakers out there today… and let us not forget, it will also be coming at us in uber intense 3-D. From the writing to the execution, we are guaranteed a wild and adrenalised ride.
Today, with the second Ghost Rider speeding it’s fiery wheels towards us and unleashing it’s scarier, darker, one-of-a kind, jawdropping, anti-hero /superhero horror badassery in our direction on 17 Feb, word (from the same interview) reaches our already hellfire trembling ears of a possible Ghost Rider Trilogy! “We have to see how this movie does. We hope the fans love it enough and turn out to support the film so we can make another one. So you never know, there could very well be a Ghost Rider … 3? It wouldn’t be called three… I guess the sequel to the requel.” Mark Neveldine, never fear. we will love it. As far as our favourite thesp is concerned, a trilogy would definitely on the cards, but, he revealed in an exclusive interview with Total Film Magazine, only on one condition:
A Dante’s Inferno style Cage-Neveldine/Taylor Ghost Rider creation? We’re there already.
Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance opens at a cinema near you 17 February.
For Nicolas Cage in Fangoria Magazine, click here For Nicolas Cage in Total Film Magazine, click here For Fearsmag interview with Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, click here
By Lula Argante 10 Feb 2012
In a recent interview with Fangoria Magazine Nicolas Cage revealed,
“I feel like I’ve said alot with that character. It depends upon the script and if it gave him another place to explore. I like the idea of Ghost Rider literally going into hell – if it was something more like Dante’s Inferno then yes, absolutely.”
