According to comic book movie go-to guy David Goyer, who right now is busy shepherding the show “FlashForward” on TV, and who has just been handed the reins to the “Ghost Rider” franchise, his take on the guy with the flaming skull won’t necessarily be a reboot of the series. That seems to make sense, considering that the franchise only just started 2 years earlier. It will, however, continue on with business as if you’ve never seen the 2007 version or, indeed, need to know anything about the first movie to “get” his sequel.
Goyer tells MTV:
“It’s not exactly a reboot. I hate to say it’s more realistic, because he’s got a flaming skull for a head, but it’s a bit more stripped down and darker. It’s definitely changing tone. What ‘Casino Royale’ was to the Bond movies, hopefully this will be to ‘Ghost Rider.’”
Awesome. I’ve always wondered what Ghost Rider leaping across rooftops parkour-style would look like. We’re gonna get that, right?
As to the setting of the sequel:
“This story picks up eight years after the first film. You don’t have to have seen the first film. It doesn’t contradict anything that happened in the first film, but we’re pretending that our audience hasn’t seen the first film. It’s as if you took that same character where things ended in the first film and then picked it up eight years later—he’s just in a much darker, existential place.”
So, then, no Roxanne Simpson? What’s a “Ghost Rider” movie without Eva Mendes’ cleavage — er, I mean, acting?
Goyer expects shooting to commence next year, with Nicolas Cage still attached to star. Cage has always been cagey (ahem) about returning to hit franchises, so I fully expect him to return.
Eva Mendes’ acting talent is extraordinary.
