Ciaran Hinds is in negotiations to play the devil in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and actress-singer Violante Placido is also in talks to join the cast.

VIA SHH:

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

Placido (The American) will play the boy’s mother.

Directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are preparing to shoot the film in Romania and Turkey. Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Michael De Luca, Ashok Amritraj and Steven Paul are producing.

Romanian news site Hot News (via Screen Rant) is reporting that filmmakers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor will be ready to start shooting Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Clark Kent says: Let’s see how many people are excited about this… More after the jump!

VIA SHH:

Once again starring Nicolas Cage, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance will begin this fall in Romania, and it will be the first movie shot there in 3D. The site says that it’s the country’s first major Hollywood production since the late Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain in 2002, but in fact, Fox Walden’s The Seeker: The Dark is Rising was shot there as well.

No release date has been set yet for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance but having some sort of gameplan for when and where to shoot is a good start.

Incidentally, this plan was confirmed on Neveldine/Taylor’s Twitter account a few days ago:

“in 12 days we get on a plane for eastern europe and you can kiss our asses goodbye til february 2011”

Clark Kent says: Le sigh. What are your thoughts on ‘Ghost Rider’ being in 3-D…? Share ‘em below!

Clark Kent says: Personally I didn’t really enjoy the first ‘Ghost Rider’ flick, but according to the Internets — it still grossed a shiite-load of money. Cage (who is fun in ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ by the way) just confirmed his appearance in the sequel. See for yourself after the jump.

VIA SI:

Clark Kent asks: Comic book fans are you excited to see this coming back to the big screen? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Clark Kent says: I’ve been overwhelmed as Summer fast approaches it seems like the movies just don’t stop. Mark Millar has had plenty of hype for ‘Kick-Ass’ since late 2009. Was it worthy of the title? Or light in the pants? More after the jump.

GOOD: ‘Kick-Ass’ greatly reinvigorates the comic book-based action genre making this one of 2010′s must-watch flicks for the year. Director Matthew Vaughn takes Mark Millar panels and converts them into a superhero homage that doubly works as an enjoyable action film. Aaron Johnson (Dave Lizewski) portrays ‘Kick-Ass’ — the Peter Parker-like high school kid who yearns to be a superhero. The cast is very colorful — as are the superhero/villain costumes — with Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and his 11-year-old daughter Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) stealing the show. Fans of the comic know about Hit-Girl’s rep, but in the movie, she is unleashed on an unsuspecting audience. Viewers may get pulled into the plotline of “regular folks becoming superheroes” — but when it comes down to witnessing Hit-Girl’s awesomeness — it is unparalleled.

BAD: In ‘Kick-Ass’ opportunities arise for the film to make commentary on other poignant issues — it doesn’t seem to care about that, though. Dave is more infatuated with being an Internets Celebrity than really stopping crime making it hard to approach the top-tier of comic-book-turned-superhero-movies. Vaughn doesn’t necessarily re-define ‘Kick-Ass’ — and fails to add a particularly fresh take on Mark Millar’s story. The film’s violence sequences evoke the work of Quentin Tarantino — even going so far as to use an Ennio Morricone cue from ‘For A Few Dollars More’ — without the cartoonish grace of ‘Kill Bill’. Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays the geeky son of the film’s bad guy and barely registers as a blip when all the calamity kicks off. There are scenes in the film featuring Dave and Mintz-Plasse’s character, Chris D’Amico/Red Mist, that make the audience lose interest — leaving ‘Kick-Ass’ just not rousing enough to be truly wicked.

UGLY: ‘Kick-Ass’ does all the big things right. Visually jaw dropping, Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar work together  to mix humor in with a great deal of action. The third act alone pays off brilliantly due to all of the seeds planted earlier in the film. While this flick is DEFINITELY NOT FOR KIDS — ‘Kick-Ass’ is full of escapades that encapsulate a mixture of excitement, underage violence, and empowerment all blended together and thrown at the audience like a hollow-tip bullet. Nicolas Cage goes in as Big Daddy — whose person is pure Adam West — down to the weird inflection of his dialogue. There is a story behind the mask, yet it’s hard not to see where Vaughn got his inspiration from when it came down to the film’s more violent scenes.

Clark Kent says: In short: See It! If you haven’t already — you need to hurry up… ‘Iron Man 2′ is sure to take up your movie watching time. Enjoy the film and check out the trailer below:

Lionsgate has brought online a new restricted trailer for director Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, starring Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Lyndsy Fonseca, Mark Strong, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz.

VIA SHH:

The film, opening April 16, tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski (Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name — Kick-Ass — assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. There’s only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers.

His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, is hunted by assorted violent and unpleasant characters, and meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes, including an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo, Hit Girl (Moretz) and her father, Big Daddy (Cage).

Clark Kent says: This movie will be nothing but fun. If you have a stuffy job then be careful who looks over your should. Check out this new trailer below:

Lionsgate announced today that it won’t be releasing the Dominic Sena-directed supernatural thriller Season of the Witch on the crowded date of March 19th as was previously scheduled.

VIA CS:

There, the film was facing four other wide releases, including The Bounty Hunter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Repo Men, and The Runaways.

The studio has not yet set a new date for the film, starring Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Campbell Moore, Robert Sheehan, Claire Foy, Ulrich Thomsen, Stephen Graham and Christopher Lee.

Meanwhile, Columbia Pictures announced an August 5, 2011 release date for 21 Jump Street, the big screen adaptation of the popular ’80s show starring Johnny Depp. Jonah Hill stars in the feature directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

Clark Kent says: ‘Season of the Witch,’ eh… But I am interested to see how Jonah Hill can flip the classic TV show for today’s ADD audience.

Collider spoke to producer Mike De Luca and was able to learn new details on Ghost Rider 2 (it might be called “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance“).

Clark Kent says: You can see the summary after the jump.

– Mark Steven Johnson is not directing the sequel.

– Eva Mendes will not return as Roxanne Simpson.

– Ghost Rider 2 (or Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance) will be a hard PG-13.

– The film is going to take place in Europe.

– De Luca is open to David Goyer directing the sequel but it all comes down to his very busy schedule.

– Says the sequel will be like “pushing the reset button” on the franchise.

– As you might expect from the success of Avatar, Ghost Rider 2 might be done in 3-D.

– Says Goyer has just delivered his updated outline to the studio.

– And says Ghost Rider 2 could easily be in front of the cameras this year.

Clark Kent says: To get the full story please click here. Would you go see ‘Ghost Rider 2′ if it met your expectations? Or is it a case of “once bitten, twice shy”…? Share your thoughts below!

It’s been announced today that Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass, based on the Marvel/Icon comic mini-series from Mark Milllar and John Romita Jr., has been slated to kick off the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas, having been chosen as the Opening Night film playing on March 12.

Clark Kent says: Sadly enough I have never been to this event, but I’ve lived vicariously through A-OK’s PSo, and his adventures. I’ve been in the traveling spirit as of lately. Who knows… maybe I’ll be there this year. More after the jump.

VIA SHH:

(The film portion of the festival runs through March 21.) The movie recently played as part of the annual Butt-Numb-A-Thon Festival to raves from everyone in attendance.

Kick-Ass is the story of average teen Dave (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero.

His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, is hunted by assorted violent and unpleasant characters, and meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes, including Hit Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and another fledgling superhero, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But thanks to the scheming of a local mob boss Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), that new alliance will be put to the test.

Clark Kent says: ‘Kick-Ass‘ opens theatrically on April 16. You can check out the trailer here.

Lionsgate has debuted a new Red Band trailer for Kick-Ass which focuses on Chloe Moretz’s Hit-Girl!

Clark Kent says: This movie is DEFINITELY rated R and you’ll see why after the jump.

VIA SHH:

Opening April 16th, the Matthew Vaughn-directed comic book adaptation co-stars Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Lyndsy Fonseca, Mark Strong and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Kick-Ass tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski (Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name — Kick-Ass — assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. There’s only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers.

His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, is hunted by assorted violent and unpleasant characters, and meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes, including an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo, Hit Girl (Moretz) and her father, Big Daddy (Cage).

Clark Kent says: When you see the insanity Hit Girl brings to ‘Kick-Ass,’ you’ll want to see all this craziness on the big screen. Peep the trailer below:

Harold Perrineau (Lost, Oz, The Matrix sequels) has joined Nicolas Cage, January Jones and Guy Pearce in Endgame Entertainment’s dramatic thriller Hungry Rabbit Jumps, reports Variety.

Clark Kent says: Perrineau is one of my favorite supporting actors. Ever since ‘King of New York,’ homie’s been surprising me with his clever mix of charm and subtle strength. Sorry I didn’t watch you on ‘Lost,’ bruh…

VIA CS:

The film is about a high school chemistry teacher (Cage) whose wife is the victim of a brutal crime which leads him to align himself with an underground vigilante organization.

Perrineau will play Cage’s friend and boss, an ex-cop turned high school principal whose loyalties are tested.

Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job) is directing from Robert Tannen’s script. Tobey Maguire is producing the $30 million-budgeted film alongside Endgame’s James Stern and indie producer Ram Bergman; Maguire Entertainment’s Jenno Topping executive produces.