No critics for Ghost Rider

Don’t expect to find out what Joel Seigel, Leonard Maltin or Gene Shalit think about GHOST RIDER prior to its opening – the comic book flick won’t be screening for critics. This has been an increasingly used practice in recent years as studios look to diminsh the impact of poor word of mouth by eliminating critics screenings. Normally, however, this is reserved for low-budget, horror or comedy flicks like BLACK CHRISTMAS or EPIC MOVIE. While there aren’t official stats on things like this, GHOST RIDER could very well be the most expensive film ever made that hasn’t been screened for critics. Sony is happy with the way GHOST RIDER is tracking and is expected an opening in the mid-$30 million range. What they’re assuming will be blanket negative reviews would only hurt their opening so I can’t say I blame them for the decision but this can’t be much of an ego boost for Nicolas Cage or director Mark Steven Johnson. It would be nice to think the studio has some kind of faith in the quality of your film…