Cage May Sell Soul to Satan; Woo Looks at CGI Turtles

ByABC News
June 22, 2001, 2:26 PM

June 21 -- With the huge box-office take of X-Men, studios are realizing a cold, hard truth: Comic book geeks love to see movies based on comic books.

Now, Miramax's Dimension Films is set to crank up its version of the Marvel comic Ghost Rider, and, according to Variety, Nicolas Cage is in negotiations to star in the $75 million film, the priciest flick Dimension has ever produced.

Cage would play Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stuntman who sells his soul to save his girlfriend, according to the trade paper. But, like most deals with the Prince of Darkness, the pact has a catch, and poor Johnny becomes a fiery demon hell-bent on chasing bad guys on his bike.

Other Marvel comics in production include director Bryan Singer's X-Men sequel, Columbia's recently wrapped Spider-Man, and Universal's Incredible Hulk movie.

Another pen-and-ink property set to hit the big screen is a John Woo (Mission: Impossible 2, Face/Off) adaptation of everybody's favorite adolescent reptile martial artists, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Woo will helm the $40 million computer-animated picture, which will feature the Turtles in their darker, edgier comic book guise, rather than as the friendly heroes in a half-shell we know from the popular children's cartoon, Variety reports.

Theaters are scheduled to be inundated with Turtle Power in December 2002.