Last we heard, Columbia was in a tough spot with Ghost Rider 2– they have to get into production before this November to prevent the rights from lapsing, but their star will be tied up with his flagship National Treasure franchise. Heat Vision doesn’t have any answers on how the Nic Cage scenario is being solved (they say he’s still in negotiations), but they do know that Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor –the duo responsible for the 189 bugfuckingnut minutes of the Crank series– have been approached to handle Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
David Goyer’s script still remains the basis for the film (and he a producer), but there’s the chance the pair may rewrite the film (there’s no fucking way it’s crazy enough to suit their tastes, as is).
This is an example of pairing filmmakers to material in such a way that I really don’t care any more than I would have otherwise, but there’s at least the nagging sensation that something delightfully crazy could result. Ghost Rider benefited from its endearing central performance and effects that occasionally managed to be noteworthy (though often managed to be list-worthy), but was ultimately boring as shit, if not offensively so. If Neveldine and Taylor are able to inject any amount of their insane energy into the film, then there might be two worthwhile hours to result from this arrangement. It’s going to have to look a hell of a lot better than Gamer though.
Somehow Ghost Rider made $230 million dollars, so this has to happen. If they’re not going to take the obvious and natural road to success (secure Cage by letting him star and direct!) then they could do a lot worse than picking interestingly cheesy filmmakers, rather than a boring pile of bland to call the shots.