Sony Pictures’ $120 million Nicolas Cage-starrer Ghost Rider, based on the Marvel comic book, has been bumped from its July 14, 2006, release date to President’s Day weekend (Feb. 16) 2007.
Variety says that the move likely won’t be the last for Sony, which still has six other films to release during the upcoming summer months. The studio has 28 movies lined up for 2006 from its five divisions (Columbia, Screen Gems, TriStar, Revolution and MGM).
Sony’s other summer ’06 pics include Columbia’s The Da Vinci Code (May 19); Columbia/Revolution’s Click (June 23); Sony Pictures Animation’s Monster House (July 21); Columbia’s Will Ferrell NASCAR comedy (Aug. 4); and Revolution’s Tim Allen starrer Zoom (Aug. 11) and Little Man (May 26).
“I think everybody is looking at their release schedules in ’06 and trying to avoid some of the traffic jams,” Sony vice chairman Jeff Blake told the trade. “Seven films for a summer is a lot.”
Marvel Studios must now undo a carefully laid out plan of ancillary tie-in deals. The new release date gives the studio an expensive action film with which to start 2007.
Marvel’s Avi Arad, director Mark Steven Johnson and his producing partner Gary Foster also found the slot to be a lucky one when they released Daredevil in 2003.
Source: Variety
