It's a comic, but is it being shopped around as a feature film?

Well, that's my hope for it. We're going to start with the comic book and then maybe a graphic novel of it, and when we get that and if it works then I would try to develop a script from it. That's the idea.

How much of the motor biking is you? Did you all of your own stunts in this?

I did a lot of it, but I didn't do all of it.

You're a big motorcycle rider too, right?

Yeah, I enjoy riding. I haven't been riding for some time though, since my youngest son has been born. I really want to try – I don't want to be the kind of role model that inspires him to get on motorcycles. I'm looking more towards him hopefully trying sailing or something like that. But I do enjoy riding motorcycles.

Was there ever a point where Mark was saying, 'No, you can't do that?'

No, it wasn't like that. The only thing was that my character was most only on Grace, the chopper, and that bike isn't really my kind of bike. I prefer more of the race bikes like Ducatis or Yamaha ones. I like that whole cyborg thing where you become man and machine and the bike does exactly what you think, but Grace is a '70's chopper. It has a front rake that is really rigid and it doesn't corner and it's just a point and shoot bike. That doesn't turn me on. I want to get into corners and I want to drag my knee and do all of that.

Do you collect motorcycles?

I used to. I don't anymore. I used to have a pretty interesting library of motorcycles.

Did they give you the Ghost Rider bike at all?

They didn't. They were supposed to give me that Hell Cycle and I was going to put it in New Orleans and I never got it. So I don't know what happened.

Do you still collect comic books?

I don't, no. I do not. I still like them and I still like the idea of them, and as you know Weston and I are developing that character. I want to be more involved with the creating of them as opposed to the collecting of them.

So do you see yourself writing something for Marvel or DC or something?

Not in the immediate future, but I wouldn't rule it out.

Did you ever write your own comic books as a kid?

I did. Yeah. I did do that. It's really kind of horrible, but I used to destroy my comics with scissors and cut all the characters out and then glue them onto my notebook and then write what they were saying and reconfigure them to make my own comics.

So there wasn't any Nicolas Cage Presents?

There was some of that going on too, but I was Nicolas Coppola back then.

What were a few of the characters that you remember?

I had a character that was based on The Spirit which I just called Spirit. He was kind of a superhero with a boomerang.

Did you save any of those?

I wish I had them. I don't know where any of those are, but that would be a good one to pull out of the closet right now.

Is Weston comic book crazy?

He likes comics, but we all do in my family. Francis [Ford Coppola] likes comics. My dad liked comics. It's American mythology.

Some of the behind the scenes footage showed a take where they actually set your feet on fire during one of the transformations. How was that to do? Did they pad you up from the feet to the knees?

Yeah, and they put that sort of chemical on that burns without burning you.

You mentioned doing a sequel if the story was good enough. Where could you see Ghost Rider going in a second film?

Well, I think there's a line in the movie somewhere where Johnny Blaze says to the police force that he really admires the job that they do and that when he finishes his stunt cycle career he intends to apply his skills as a motorcycle policeman. So I can sort of see Johnny Blaze as a super-bike cop.

Did you and Easy Rider trade bike stories?

Did I talk to Peter [Fonda] about that? Oh, yeah, and he still rides. He's still into it.

There's a lot of stuff that you're attached to. Can you clarify what you're working on?

The things that you read on the IMDB are sometimes confused in the sense that everything that I'm attached to I'm not necessarily attached to as an actor because I have a production company called Saturn Films. It's my job and my partners job to try and get as much material as we can into the company to develop possibly for other actors to produce or to even direct, but there's not really a green light on any of these films yet. That's just stuff that we have in our catalogue. So currently I'm wide open. I'm not sure exactly what the next film would be although it's looking like 'National Treasure II.'

So that is actually going to happen?

Yeah. It's being written as we speak, but the hope is that it's going to be happening.

It's about Abraham Lincoln?

Yeah, Abraham Lincoln and confederate gold and the assassination. It's interesting stuff. What I like about the 'National Treasure' potential series is that it deals with history and it's also entertaining. That's also a good thing. There are worse things to do than to stimulate young people's minds about history as you're entertaining them.

Are you going to do it sort of 'Indiana Jones' style and do a prequel because at the end of 'National Treasure' you're a billionaire, aren't you?

[Laughs] Well, actually, not a billionaire. I think that he gave most of the treasure to the different museums of the world. He got one percent or something.

Okay, so you're a multi-millionaire.

I'm not sure what they're going to do about that.

That character seems as though he would into searching out other mysteries with the money.

Yeah, that's what I like about him.  He's kind of like a historical detective and a treasure hunter.

Everyone is still attached from the first film?

Yeah.

Except for Sean Bean is what I heard.

I'm not sure how that's going to work just yet.

Aren't you doing 'Crazy Dog?'

Yeah, that's something that I've been developing for a year now. That's an interesting character.

Are you shooting that sometime soon?

That would be in Manhattan and if it does happen it would be in the year coming up, next year.

This is your first time working with Sam Elliott.

Yeah. He was my neighbor for the longest time. He used to live behind me in Malibu.

So you guys got along on the set just fine?

Oh, yeah, Sam is great.

Who does he play in the film, and what's his character do in relation to yours?

Well, a lot and I don't want to give it away, but it is a lot. I mean, Sam's character is the caretaker and he's the one that really understands the mythology and understands the history of the Ghost Rider. He's sort of the mentor to the Ghost Rider and explains to Johnny Blaze what his problem is and what he's in danger of, what can happen to him. There is a reveal that is bigger than that.

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