'Ghost Rider 2' May Lose Nicolas Cage

As you're probably already aware, a sequel is on the way to the terrible 2007 film, "Ghost Rider."

Nicolas Cage, star of the first "Ghost Rider," has been expressing a lot of interest in returning for the sequel - even sharing his ideas for where the next film should take the character.

Sadly, a Nicolas Cage sequel may not be in the cards. Vulture reports that Cage may be unable to commit to "Ghost Rider 2" and Columbia is left with a deadline of November 14,2010. Which means that if production hasn’t started on "Ghost Rider 2" by that time then the rights revert back to Marvel (and subsequently their new owner, Disney).

Columbia is struggling to get the actor to commit to the sequel over another project that might offer a bigger paycheck – namely "National Treasure 3" (coincidentally a Disney franchise).

Sony (Columbia) desperately needs a tentpole blockbuster for 2011 since the "Spider-Man" reboot is now set for 2012. Although the first "Ghost Rider" didn’t break any box office records or garner much critical success, it still made $230 million (double its production budget) – so it’s still possible for the sequel to do well.

While Cage probably wasn't the best choice, fans now recognize associate him with the character. Bringing in both a new director and main actor is going to make the sequel feel more like a reboot.

Although producer Mike De Luca said that "Ghost Rider 2" will be like “pushing the reset button”, the film is still expected to be a direct successor – and not an all out reboot of the franchise.

I’m probably not the only one who thought "Ghost Rider" was a huge disappointment (to put it mildly) and how much or how little Cage contributed to that is up for debate.

Would I be upset if Cage didn’t return? To be honest, no. I would rather they flat out reboot it (in the same vein as the "Hulk" franchise) and cast another actor in the role. But that’s just me.

Would you be upset if Cage didn’t return for "Ghost Rider 2"? Who else would you want to see star in the leading role?

If Columbia goes ahead with the movie (with or without Cage) before their deadline runs out, then you could see the sequel in theaters sometime in 2011 – mostly likely the summer.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, UGO Movie Blog