Nic Cage Says Ghost Rider 2 Is Headed To Europe. UPDATE: Says Kick-Ass Won’t Be Gratuitously Violent?
Ghost Rider’s passport just arrived in the mail. The Pope’s assistants have laid out the welcome mat. The only thing left to do is get the $60 t-shirts screen-printed for the “Flaming European World Tour” andit’s sequel time.Man of the hour,Nic Cage, is talking upGhost Rider 2during his press rounds for this weekend’s proto-ridiculousBangkok Dangerous. Move away from any flammable materials and laughing gas before reading this quote…
Over atDark Horizons, Cage added that the plot will haveJohnny Blaze"working with different religious figures." Did these interviewers bring a smirk-o-meter? I’m not an aficionado on this character or the canon, but Nic Cage subbing for Tom Hanks inThe Da Vinci Codewith a flaming skull sounds like a great pitch for a new show on Adult Swim. Let’s hopeMarvelandSonyflick on the greenlight.
Oh, and Cagealso addedthat he’s a great fit for Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar’s $70 millionKick-Assbecause as a kid he used to dress up as a superhero and go fight imaginary crime past his bedtime. Slashfilm offers a toast.
UPDATE: Uh oh. Before we begin, let me state that I have full confidence inMatthew Vaughnto bringKick-Assto the screen in all its manic, blood-letting,super-hypedglory. The cover to the right states, “Sickening violence just the way you like it!” Two days ago, wereportedthat the independently funded, provocative comic book film had its budget raised by $40 million, with Vaughn previously stating that going indie was the only way to stay faithful to the source material. But nowNic Cagetells MTVthat…
As /Film reader, “Oi Vey,” points out: isn’tthisBangkok Dangerousclipa primo example of “gratuitous violence?” Nice point. Either way, Cage’s on-record obliviousness is a great way to get fanboys on the bad side of this project, especially when Universal’s adaptation of Millar’sWantedretained most of his signature explicit violence while doing away with cool plot points. Millar has stated thatKick-Ass’s mayhem will far surpassWanted’s, but the announcement of Cage’s involvement was already testing fanboy waters. There’s only one solution, fire him. Well, he did makeVampire’s KissandWild at Heart, so maybe not. But give him a pep talk.
Vaughn has expressed for years that when he finally sinks his teeth into a comic book flick—at one point this film wasX3, thenThor—it will be nothing less than balls-out spectacular. Unless he confirms Cage’s toned-down impression,Kick-Assremains at the top of my list.
Discuss:Ghost Rider 2a chance at being one of the greatest sequels of all time, no? By all means readers, what should the subtitle be?Euro Trip? Who should play The Pope? And what’s up with Cage’s odd remarks aboutKick-Ass?
