Trivia / Ghost Rider (2007)

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Nicolas Cage really, really likes Ghost Rider. He even has a Ghost Rider tattoo, which had to be covered by makeup for filming for obvious reasons.
• California Doubling: Set in Texas, but shot in Australia (hence explaining the presence of Rebel Wilson, who had yet to break out).
• Doing It for the Art: Mark Steven Johnson put forward his own money to make an action sequence in which Ghost Rider battles a helicopter.
• Money, Dear Boy: According to an interview he gave to the New York Times in 2010, this movie was made during the middle of Wes Bentley's decade-long, extremely serious addiction to cocaine and heroin. He said in that interview that he only accepted any movie roles during that time so that he would have money to buy enough drugs.
• Promoted Fanboy: Nicolas Cage is a huge Ghost Rider and comic book fanboy, who has wanted to play Ghost Rider since he got into acting. He actually has the Rider tattooed on one arm; they had to cover the tat so he could portray the role.
• Real Song Theme Tune: "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is heard when Johnny and the Caretaker go off to help defeat Blackrider, and is also the end credits theme.
• Release Date Change: Originally planned for a summer 2006 release. Writer and Director Mark Steven Johnson asked for more time to complete more action shots, including the helicopter battle scene.
• Saved from Development Hell:
  • Development began as early as 1992 and Marvel were in discussions with potential producers to sell the rights to. In 1997 Gale Anne Hurd was listed as producer, with Jonathan Hensleigh attached to write the script. David S. Goyer developed a script and in May 2000, Marvel announced an agreement with Crystal Sky Entertainment with Jon Voight serving as producer.
  • Production was scheduled to start in early 2001 with a budget of $75 million and Johnny Depp expressing interest in starring as Johnny Blaze. The following August, Dimension Films joined Crystal Sky to co-finance the film, which would be directed by Stephen Norrington. Avi Arad approached Eric Bana on the possibility of playing the lead role, but opted to cast him in Hulk instead. Nicolas Cage entered talks to star in June 2001. Within a few months, Norrington dropped out in order to focus on Tick Tock and Cage eventually left as well.
  • By May 2002, Columbia Pictures sought to acquire the rights in turnaround from Dimension Films following the success of Spider-Man. Shane Salerno was brought in to rewrite Goyer's script. Mark Steven Johnson was brought in to direct in April 2003, with Cage returning to star. Johnson re-wrote Salerno's script and production was to begin in late 2003 or 2004, but it was delayed again and in the meantime, Cage left to star in The Weatherman. The lack of a workable script continued to delay the production. Filming finally began in February 2005 and finished in June that year, with re-shoots taking place in 2006.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: It's no coincidence that Raquel Alessi got cast as a young Eva Mendes. She more than looks the part.
• What Could Have Been: Scarecrow was originally intended to be the film's antagonist, but had to be dropped due to Batman Begins featuring a villain by the same name. Despite this, Scarecrow still appeared in the movie's tie-in video game and action figure line.
• Written By Castmember: Nicolas Cage wrote sections of the script.

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