Gods and Goddesses alike gathered at the world famous Playboy Mansion on Tuesday evening, March 6th to celebrate the Blu-ray and DVD release of Immortals, which went on sale earlier that day. In attendance from the movie was Immortals producer Craig J. Flores, as well as actor Corey Sevire who played Apollo in the film. Also making an appearance at the mansion Tuesday night was actors Bruce Boxleitner (Tron: Legacy), Johnny Whitworth (Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance), Stephen Bishop (Safe House), Chris Bauer (HBO’s True Blood), Theo Rossi and Dayton Callie (Sons of Anarchy), and Jonathan Lipnicki (Jerry Maguire), as well as comedians Orlando Jones (Mad TV) and Tommy Davidson (In Living Color). Unfortunately our host, the great Hugh Hefner, did not make an appearance at the party or on the red carpet that evening.

IAR attended the red carpet gala and I had a chance to speak with Flores about producing the film. I began by asking him about his experience collaborating with visionary director Tarsem Singh. “I think Tarsem established within our first meeting that he had the movie inside his head and that he wanted to make it look Caravaggio paintings. He had it all down in his head and that is what you look for in a director to really just execute that vision seamlessly and he did.”

Opening in theaters on February 17th is the long awaited sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider entitled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which is based on the popular Marvel Comics antihero. The new film is directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank), and once again stars Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) as Johnny Blaze, as well as the role of Ghost Rider, which was portrayed by a stunt actor in the previous film. Besides Cage, the film features a cast of actors who are all new to the Ghost Rider franchise including Idris Elba (Thor, The Losers), Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Violante Placido (The American), Christopher Lambert (Highlander), newcomer Fergus Riordan, and Johnny Whitworth (3:10 to Yuma) as the villain Blackout. 

IAR's very own Heather Newgen recently had a chance to sit down and speak with both Idris Elba, and Johnny Whitworth about their work on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The talented actors discussed the new film, their different roles, Elba's original character's connection to the Marvel universe; and why he is attracted to comic book adapted material, Whitworth's dual role; and how the actor was able to portray such a dark character, the directors unusual filmmaking techniques, and hot monks.

Opening in theaters on February 17th is the long awaited sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider entitled Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which is based on the popular Marvel Comics antihero. The new film is directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank), and once again stars Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas) as Johnny Blaze, as well as the role of Ghost Rider, which was portrayed by a stunt actor in the previous film. Besides Cage, the film features a cast of actors who are all new to the Ghost Rider franchise including recent Golden Globe winner Idris Elba (BBC's Luther), Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Violante Placido (The American), Christopher Lambert (Highlander), newcomer Fergus Riordan, and Johnny Whitworth (3:10 to Yuma) as the villain Blackout. 

IAR's very own Heather Newgen recently had a chance to "Get In The Cage" with Nicolas Cage himself to discuss Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. The Oscar winning actor talked about the new movie, his iconic character, why it was important for him to play both roles this time around, the challenges of embodying a character that is undead, his different look and voice for the sequel, why it takes place in Europe several years after its predecessor, cobras, and the directors willingness to "risk their lives to entertain you!"

With just three weeks until the sequel actually arrives in theaters, a big haul of images from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance have appeared online.  There are over seventy-five total, so we're just providing a sampling here, but even so, the stills give a sense of how different the film will be from its predecessor, 2007's Ghost Rider.

At the San Diego Comic-Con panel for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance way back in July of last year, the highlight wasn't actually the first presentation of the sequel's trailer, it was a brief two-and-a-half minute behind the scenes featurette.  Now, with less than a month to go for before the film's release, that featurette has emerged online so that you can take a peek even if you didn't make the annual pilgrimage to Southern California.

Earlier this week we saw a new official one sheet for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and now, in time honored fashion, a full theatrical trailer has followed in that poster's flaming footsteps.  Based on this trailer, the sequel to Mark Steven Johnson's Ghost Rider would seem to be focused squarely on ridiculous action, just as you'd expect from Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the aggro-duo behind both Crank movies and Gamer.  The trailer also gives our first idea of the Spirit of Vengeance storyline, such as it is, which finds Nicolas Cage's Johnny Blaze playing the hero in order to protect a young boy from becoming the human vessel for the Anti-Christ.

Last month, perhaps in order to get into the Thanksgiving spirit, Sony Pictures unveiled four aggressively stylized pieces of poster artwork for the upcoming semi-rebooted sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  Refresh your memory by taking a gander at those here and here.  Now, though, the studio has rolled out (no pun intended, I swear) a more conventional one sheet, one that features everything you'd expect out of a Ghost Rider poster.  Namely, a leather outfit, a charred-up motorbike spitting hot fire from its wheels, and, of course, a flaming skull.  There's also a swinging chain serving to visually illustrate that Spirit of Vengeance is in 3D, as well as the words "Nicolas" and "Cage," serving to remind us that Nicolas Cage once again plays Johnny Blaze.

There's a little challenge in marketing Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, as 2007's Ghost Rider performed pretty well and increased awareness of the Marvel Comics character, but was not generally well received by audiences or fans.  So how can the sequel, which is very nearly a reboot in many important respects, bank off that awareness whilst also promising a wholly different experience, courtesy of aggro-directing duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor?  Two new pieces of poster artwork for the sequel suggest that the approach in selling Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is to go way, way over the top in order to convey the film's wild tone, which is miles away from Mark Steven Johnson's cartoonish round with the property.

As directors, Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine have an aggressive style that figuratively punches the audience in its solar plexus and then throttles its crotch.  That approach is potentially perfect for a comic book character who is alternately a human biker and a demon spawn with a flaming skull where his head should be.  With two new pieces of poster artwork for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, someone in marketing at Sony Pictures has nicely encapsulated the Neveldine/Taylor style (seen in films such as Crank and Gamer) with some pretty nifty images.  So good you can practically feel your crotch getting mercilessly pummeled.

Mark Steven Johnson's 2007 take on Ghost Rider wasn't really the balls-to-the-wall demonic actioner that plenty of folks must have been hoping for, but was instead more of a standard superhero origin tale with a flaming skull and some nice new leathers.  The upcoming sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, is not a reboot, as it once again stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze and does not explicitly disavow the first film, but new directors and co-writers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are definitely taking a different approach.  How different?  The Comic-Con tagline for the sequel was "Fucking Your Shit Up in 3D February 2012." 

At the SpikeTV Scream Awards this week, the first official clip from Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance played for the crowd and the audience at home.  Now, of couse, that clip is online, complete with the sounds of a cheering crowd from the horror-centric awards show.  The clip briefly shows Johnny Whitworth as the villainous Blackout before he turns into a demonic something-or-other, then re-introduces Ghost Rider himself.