A lesser-known Marvel superhero and a classic kid lit favorite come to the big screen today as Sony/Columbia Pictures releases Ghost Rider and Disney and Walden Media debut Bridge to Terabithia. Both films are showing off their CG animation and other vfx work in trailers as they make a bid to capture the top spot at the box office over the long Presidents Day weekend.
Ghost Rider stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who gives up his soul to become a flaming-skulled avenging demon and defeat the power-hungry son of Satan. Hulk co-star Sam Elliot returns to Marvel territory in a supporting role and the Easy Rider himself, Peter Fonda, shows up for some more two-wheeling action in a villainous role. Sony Pictures Imageworks and Digital Dream are handling the bulk of the visual effects work, including Cage’s fiery transformations.
The film is directed by Mark Steven Johnson, who previously helmed the Marvel adaptation Daredevil and wrote the screenplay for the less successful Daredevil spin-off, Elektra. Johnson penned the Ghost Rider screenplay with David S. Goyer, the scribe behind such comic-to-screen treatments as Batman Begins, Blade II, Blade: Trinity and the upcoming Batman Begins sequel. So far, critics haven’t been kind to the supernatural action flick, which may appeal more to fans of camp treatments such as Fantastic Four than lovers of serious comic-book fare like Batman Begins.
One of the better reviewed films of late is Bridge to Terabithia, a character-driven coming-of-age tale that Disney is trying to sell as a magical adventure epic like The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The film is based on Katherine Paterson’s 1987 Newbery Award-winning novel and is directed by Gabor Csupo, co-founder of Klasky-Csupo, the animation company behind Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys. Csupo’s most recent film work involved producing the animated features Rugrats Go Wild (2003) and The Wild Thornberry Movie (2002), but this marks his live-action directorial debut. While not a CG-loaded production, Terabithia does involve some imagined fantasy elements that are brought to the screen by Weta Digital.
Other films opening in wide release this holiday weekend are Warner Bros.’ Music and Lyrics, a romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Drew Berrymore, Universal’s Breach, a true-life espionage thriller with Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe, and Lionsgate’s Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girl, the latest relationship comedy from the creator of Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Media’s Family Reunion.
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