It looks like Johnny Blaze will ride again. Columbia Pictures is gearing up to release a sequel to the 2007 Marvel Comics-spawned superhero flick "Ghost Rider," titled "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance."

The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog reveals that the studio is working to bring back the first film's star, Nicolas Cage, and they've also got a director in mind. A directing team in fact: "Crank" helmers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who, if hired, will work off of a script from "Ghost Rider" executive producer David Goyer.

Negotiations with Cage, Neveldine and Taylor are in the early stages right now, but Columbia hopes to have everything in place for shooting to begin this fall. There's no word on what connection "Spirit of Vengeance" will have with the 2007 release, or if any other characters from that first movie are expected to return.

The reason for Columbia's push to get production rolling can be tracked back to the terms of their licensing deal. While no deadline is specified, the rights to the Ghost Rider character could be reverting back to Marvel if a sequel doesn't come "soon."

Neveldine and Taylor last directed the late-2009 release "Gamer." They also penned the script for the upcoming comic book adaptation "Jonah Hex," starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox, and hitting theaters this Friday. They've got nothing lined up right now that's been announced, so jumping onto "Spirit of Vengeance" shouldn't be a problem.

Cage turned in a strong performance in the April comic book adaptation of Mark Millar's "Kick-Ass." He's got another movie out in July, the Disney fantasy/adventure flick "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," in which he stars with Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina and Monica Bellucci. He'll pop up yet again later this year in "Season of the Witch," which has an unspecified 2010 release.

Are you looking forward to a "Ghost Rider" sequel? Sound off in the comments.

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