Stacking, packing and racking

Nicolas Cage superhero starrer Ghost Rider is now facing a February 2007 release due to a bloated Sony schedule for 2006.

The $120 million Marvel Comics adap was due to be unleashed on US screens on 14 July of next year but with a total of 28 new titles approaching screens over the next 12 months, the studio felt the need to review their calendar and Ghost Rider was moved.

Sony Vice Chairman Jeff Blake said the move was down to the amount of output the studio was facing during the summer months. “I think everybody is looking at their release schedules in '06 and trying to avoid some of the traffic jams.”

Speculation suggests that Cage’s movie won’t be the only one affected in the shuffle, as Sony has no less than 6 movies due to release in the summer months alone: The Da Vinci Code, Click, Monster House, NASCAR (a Will Ferrell comedy), Zoom (starring Tim Allen) and Wayans’ brothers romp Little Man.

“Seven films for a summer is a lot,” Blake admitted.

The bonus for Sony is they can now kick off 2007 with a big budget actioner, loaded with commercial tie-ins.