At long last, the mildly successful and wildly ignored “Ghost Rider” will have a sequel of its very own. Bloody Disgusting is reporting that writers are being sought, not that the script is going to be terribly important to this one. More (or is it less?) importantly, Nicolas Cage has apparently signed on to reprise his role as Johnny Blaze, the motorcycle daredevil who sells his soul to set the world on fire.
A month ago, Disney said “Chronicles of Narnia? More like Chronicles of No-nia!” as it cut funding on the third film in the Walden Media’s franchise after “Prince Caspian” proved to be a bit of a disappointment at the box office. Variety now says 20th Century Fox will step in to partner up with Walden and cover the estimated $140 million budget of the next film in the franchise. “The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is aiming for a holiday 2010 release, with Michael Apted still slated to direct.
Just when you thought it was safe to go to a Norwegian camp, Universal announces the return of “The Thing,” according to Variety. Originally a John Carpenter horror classic from 1982, this new version will be directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen, who has directed a number of commercials. Ron Moore, who is the executive producer of “Battlestar Galactica” and has an extensive background in writing scifi television shows is penning the script. The film is expected to be an origin story of sorts, detailing the first discovery of The Thing on our planet.
Van Heijningen is also developing “Army of the Dead” at Warner Bros. with producer Zack Snyder.