'Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance' Co-Director Brian Taylor Clarifies Rumors About The Film

Earlier this week Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance co-director Brian Taylor caused a bit of confusion when he said via Twitter that "The dual role of blaze/zarathos will be a nic cage classic." Cue minor consternation and/or excitement. Suddenly Nicolas Cage is playing two roles? Where did this come from? That isn't quite what is happening — Nicolas Cage won't really be playing both the hero and the villain in the film, as some have surmised. But he is going to be more fully playing the demonic spirit of vengeance that gives the film its subtitle.

Collider talked to Brian Taylor, who explained the approach he, co-director Mark Neveldine and Nicolas Cage have to the film.

zarathos is the spirit of vengeance that inhabits john blaze when he becomes ghost rider.  unlike the 1st movie, where the rider was stiffly acted out by a various stunt guys, nic will be playing all the ghost rider stuff himself – and we are creating a whole physical language for the demon that is different from the human blaze.

That's reasonably good news. The team of Neveldine and Taylor seems like a good fit for the material. They've got a uniquely high-energy brand of crazy that could complement Nicolas Cage very well. Giving the actor more ways to channel his own manic impulses can only be a benefit to this particular project. So what if the budget is a lot lower than some were expecting? It is still a lot more than anything the directing duo has been able to muster on other features. As long as they find plenty of ways to get Nic Cage's insanity on the screen, they should be in good shape.

A fiery synopsis:

Johnny Blaze, aka Ghost Rider (Nicolas Cage), is hiding out in remote Eastern Europe and struggling to repress his curse. Blaze is recruited by a sect to take on the devil, who wants to take over his mortal son's body on the boy's birthday.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance starts shooting in November and is scheduled to roll through February. It is scheduled for release a year after wrap, on February 17, 2012