Ghost Rider 2's budget flames out

Maybe the directing duo of Neveldine & Taylor can get the flamehead effect by rubbing two sticks together? The pair are going to have to find a way to crank up the energy for their upcoming sequel, Ghost Rider: The Spirit of Vengeance, with a few less dollars to throw around as their budget has been slashed from an estimated $135M down to roughly $75M.  D'oh. 

The reason is pretty simple. Sony has a number of huge blockbusters eating up cash at the moment, so they gotta make cuts somewhere. They brought in Hyde Park Entertainment to co-finance, offering them international distribution rights to the superhero flick as compensation, which if this film does as well as the first one($229M worldwide) should be quite a deal.

This shouldn't be that big of a deal. Neveldine and Taylor aren't known for huge special effects flicks anyway(unless you count that confusing video game fight sequence in Crank 3).

Ghost Rider 2 is set to blaze into theaters on February 17th, 2012. Nicolas Cage, Idris Elba, Ciarian Hinds, and Placido Violante star.