Exclusive: GHOST RIDER 2 Director Brian Taylor Talks 3D, Running Time, Deleted Scenes, Filming in Europe, Nic Cage and a Lot More

- A few days ago, I got to sit down with director Brian Taylor for an exclusive interview on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. With a February 17, 2012 release date fast approaching, Taylor is currently in post-production finishing up the movie. However, while the movie is still almost five months from getting released, they already have a few deleted scenes and Taylor says the sequel will be 90 minutes (the original was 114). During the interview we talked about where they are in the editing process, the experience of post converting to 3D and his thoughts on 3D, what to expect from Idris Elba and Nicolas Cage in the film, the deleted scenes, the run time, what will be on the DVD/Blu-ray (they captured thousands of hours of footage: interviews, features, behind-the-scenes stuff), what it was like to film in Eastern Europe (he tells some crazy stories), will there be other Marvel characters in the sequel, the full trailer, and a lot more. Trust me, if you’re a fan of Neveldine/Taylor and have been looking forward to Ghost Rider 2, you’re going to like this interview. Hit the jump to watch. Ghost Rider 2 posterFinally, if you missed the teaser trailer for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, click here. You can also check out over 30 images from the film here. And one last thing, a huge thank you to Brian Taylor for giving me so much of his time. Since I know some of you don’t have 15 minutes to watch the interview, here’s 10 things to know about the Ghost Rider sequel: Neveldine and Taylor’s run-and-gun shooting style does not lend itself to the traditional rules of what looks good in 3D. They ignored those “rules” and shot exactly the way they wanted to shoot. Ghost Rider 2 will be post-converted in to 3D, but don’t fear a rush job. Taylor was focused on making the 3D “state of the art, cutting edge, the best it could possibly be.” The runtime for the sequel is about 90 minutes. (The original was 114 minutes.) No prior Neveldine/Taylor film has ended up with a true deleted scene. Ghost Rider 2 will end up with 2-4 on the DVD. Alongside the deleted scenes, the DVD/Blu-ray will be packed with interviews, features, and behind-the-scenes footage. Taylor claims they captured “thousands and thousands and thousands of hours of footage.” Cage will be unleashed in this movie. They wanted “every face of Nic.” At the end of the shoot, Cage told the directors, “Guys, I don’t think I have any other ways to be crazy. I think I’ve done all of it.” At the same time, Taylor thinks Elba will blow people’s minds with his charisma. “That guy could kill babies on screen. He’s so likeable.” Neveldine and Taylor came on to the project wanting to reinvent Ghost Rider on screen. They redesigned the character, made it “a lot darker, a lot weirder.” Sony embraced their take. The teaser trailer barely showed off anything because most of the CG and “a lot of the most spectacular things” weren’t done. They saved some images for the full trailer. Filming in eastern Europe was dangerous. To illustrate the level of guerilla filmmaking, Taylor describes a scene where both the actor (Elba) and the camera operator (Neveldine) go over a cliff. It seemed like the rig could fall over with a slight wind.