One of the major highlights of the original Kick-Ass was the spot on performance by Nicolas Cage. His presence and manic energy brought something to the table the helped tie the film together. Unfortunately, spoiler warning, Nic Cage’s Big Daddy had to die and now the sequel needs to find some one to replace the hole he left.

Nic Cage is one mighty hole to fill, sure there are bigger and better actors, but so few can fill a void left by Cage at his finest. Well the casting gods have worked their magic and found someone who might just be up for the task, Jim Carrey. Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar recently took to his website to share his thoughts on the news:

…the energy Jim’s going to bring to Colonel Stars has me buzzing as much as Nic Cage with Big Daddy. You have to remember that Big Daddy’s role before Cage came on was a much more straightforward bad-ass. It was Nic who gave him that Adam West delivery and brought this incredible warmth to the character, especially with regard to Mindy.

Kick-Ass was a favorite for a lot of us here at The Flickcast, so this casting has caused a great deal of excitement. Which the film needs more of because even though they are bringing almost everyone else back for the film, director Matthew Vaughn will not be back. He will be to busy shooting X-Men: Days of Future Past, a statement that in and of itself also causes great excitement ’round these parts.

Nic Cage! Boom! He wants to find some rockets! Now that we have your attention (although that last bit was from a different movie, sorry) we’ve got a trailer for Cage’s upcoming movie Stolen to share with you today.

In Stolen, Cage re-teams with Con-Air director Simon West for this “fast paced action thriller set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.” In the film Cage plays Will Montgomery, “a master thief who after being double-crossed in a heist gone awry is sent to prison for 8 years. Upon his release he’s ready to leave his criminal past behind and try to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter Allison.”

“The FBI and his old cohorts believe that he hid the loot from the last heist 8 years ago, $10 Million in Bonds. To get his hands on it, his old partner VINCENT kidnaps Allison and demands the entire $ 10 Million as ransom. Montgomery only has one day to get the $10 Million ransom. He must trust his instincts and his old partner in crime, the beautiful, sexy and smart RILEY, to do one more, clever heist to get his daughter back alive before it’s too late.”

The concept behind The Expendables is admirable, mix together as many bad ass action super stars from the last three decades of film into one franchise. The cast list of the first film read like a who’s who of the greatest action talent, even going so far as to feature Arnold and Willis in cameos.

The second film, out this Friday, uped the ante with the original cast returning along with full roles for The Arnold, Bruce Willis and even Van Damme. As great as that group is how do you top it? Total Film had a chance to talk to the film’s producer Avi Lerner to ask that very question:

We’ve approached Clint Eastwood to be one of the guys, we’ve got a character in mind for him. We’re talking to Harrison Ford. [And we want] Wesley Snipes when he comes back from prison. I’ll give you one more name, we’ve got Nicolas Cage to play [one of the characters]… And we’re going to bring Mickey Rourke back, if he won’t be too crazy. I like Mickey. And of course, all the existing stars [will return]”

Wow, talk about reaching for the stars. Who knows if they will actually nail any of those guys, but it is good to see the producers won’t consider any action icon to big to approach. Which begs the question, when will they give Mel Gibson a call?

You can check out The Expendables 2 this week and stay tuned to The Flickcast for any testosterone riddled casting updates in the future.

It’s a close race as to which comic book adaptation I despise most. Daredevil and Elektra are right up there with the worst comic book movies ever made, but in many ways the first Ghost Rider movie is just as bad.

Fortunately, at least from what we’ve seen so far, it looks like Directors Neveldine and Taylor have realized the problems with the first one. With their version of things and their crack at a sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, they’ve taken things in a new direction — as in they’re actually trying to make it good.

Judge for yourself as Sony has released a new tailer for the film today and we’ve got it for you. In this one, we get a bit more of the story and, of course, lots of Nic Cage doing his “acting” thing.

Although, I don’t dislike him as much as our own Matt Raub does. In fact, he’s been good in some movies. Watch Adaptation if you don’t believe me. Plus, his middle name is Kim, so he’s also had that to deal with.

Check out the new Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance trailer after the break. Look for it in theaters on February 17 of 2012.

• Michel Gondry got tired of the studios taking too long for the expected remake, so he decided to make his own low-budget remake of Taxi Driver. Here’s the trailer.

• Fans may have hated Nic Cage’s original Ghost Rider film, but with Crank’s Neveldine and Taylor on the sequel, and this trailer looking amazing, we can’t help but get excited.

• Dario Argento has earned the respect of horror and crime fans everywhere, but even he can’t expect us to ignore the putridness of this trailer for Dracula 3D. What was he thinking?

• A brand new fan trailer with giant robots has hit the web, and this time it only cost $150. The difference? It looks better than some multi-million dollar pictures.

You know you can judge the merit of a film by the fact that it has 3D in it’s title. As if that gimmick alone is enough to draw an audience. Well that’s exactly what they’re doing over at Lionsgate with their newest schlocky film, Drive Angry 3D, starring the ever-talented Nic Cage.

The premise of the film is so original, it made the suits at Marvel’s heads spin. Get this: Nic Cage is a badass who escapes from hell to punish the gangsters that killed his wife and baby. Along the way, the Devil’s right hand man (played by William Fichtner) heads to Earth as well to find and bring back this escaped soul. So far the only major difference we can see between this film and Ghost Rider is that this flick replaces a motorcycle with a muscle car. Big change.

Cage is joined by Hollywood’s next big thing, Amber Heard, as they take down a ganglord and his army of thugs. The script comes from the guys who brought us Jason X (the one in space) and Dracula 2000. The new trailer is slightly redeeming, because it gives the film a bit of a Grindhouse look, which could make it all worthwhile in the end.

Check it out after the jump, and catch Drive Angry 3D in theaters February 25th.

If you are one of the dozens of people who sat through the entirety of Nic Cage’s Ghostrider back in 2007, here’s a statement you probably never made afterwards. “I loved that film, I really wish we got more Nic Cage.” If you were crazy enough to actually think that, then this bit of news is for you.

It’s been announced that Cage wants a bit more meat this time around, and will be portraying a bit more than just a stunt man with a curse. Co-director Brian Taylor recently sat down with Collider for the full scoop.

Zarathos is the spirit of vengeance that inhabits john blaze when he becomes ghost rider.  unlike the 1st movie, where the rider was stiffly acted out by a various stunt guys, nic will be playing all the ghost rider stuff himself – and we are creating a whole physical language for the demon that is different from the human blaze.

Taylor comes from the team of Neveldine/Taylor, who most people know as the madmen who brought us the Crank films. If you’re saying “there’s no way these guys can make a campy comic book film NOT awesome”, just remember that they wrote the first script for Jonah Hex.

This sequel puts Cage’s Blaze in Eastern Europe, fighting to hide his curse, when he is recruited by a sect to take down the devil. Let’s see just how Cage does when the crew actually sets his skull on fire.

Yesterday, we brought you a cool behind-the-scenes feature going backstage on the set of Liongsgate’s newest upcoming comic film, Kick-Ass. With that, we got to see a bit more of Mark Strong as the main baddie in the film, some more of Chloe Moret’z “Hit Girl”, and lots of Matthew Vaughn going hands-on on the set.

Today, we’re getting even more, as a brand new red band trailer has hit the web. The trailer has got pretty much everything you would want in a red band: swearing, nudity, and outrageous violence. Obviously, it should be filed under NSFW.

Unfortunately, Cage’s “Ass-Kick” line still makes the trailer. Let’s hope it doesn’t make the final cut of the film.

Check out the new trailer after the jump, from our pals at Trailer Addict, and be sure to catch Kick-Ass, starring Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, Mark Strong, and Nic Cage, on April 16th.

Big week for international trailers, with the first one for Clash of the Titans hitting yesterday. Now the first red band international trailer for Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass is here, and it looks, well, kick ass.

We first got a glimpse at the film by Matthew Vaughn when the San Diego Comic-Con footage leaked in July of last year, then Lionsgate picked up distribution for the film and started rolling out tons and tons of promotion for the project.

With that comes the newest red band trailer for the film, giving us all of the f-bombs and headshots that we loved to see in the book. The adaptation of the Mark Millar comic stars Aaron Johnson as the titular Kick-Ass, along with Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Nic Cage, and  Sinestro frontrunner Mark Strong.

Check out the new NSFW trailer after the jump, and catch Kick-Ass in theaters on April 16.

The marketing for April’s Kick-Ass has been in full force as of late. Since the release of the trailer over a month ago, the posters have been rolling out on a regular basis, with a new twist to the marketing plan. That new angle is giving focus to each of the other crime fighters in the film, who may or may not actually be all that good.

This is an interesting take on the film, seeing as how the titular character, Kick-Ass, is the main protagonist in the original comic series by Mark Millar. Either way, in the newest red band trailer, we get a few new scenes with Chloe Moretz as Hit-Girl, Nic Cage as Big Daddy, and of course Aaron Johnson.

Check out the new NSFW trailer after the jump, which only makes this movie look even better, and expect to see more new footage from Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass before it hits theaters on April 16.