In rural Eastern Europe, Moreau, an alcoholic monk, warns a nearby monastery about Roarke's forces seeking to kidnap a young boy named Danny. They aim to perform a ritual that transfers the aging Roarke's mind into Danny's body. A firefight ensues, and Danny escapes with his mother Nadya.
Moreau seeks out Johnny Blaze, who is in hiding to contain the Rider inside him. In exchange for the Rider's help finding Danny, Moreau offers to restore Johnny's soul and remove the Ghost Rider's curse.
Nadya and Danny are captured by Nadya's former boyfriend, Ray Carrigan. He is about to execute Nadya when the Ghost Rider appears, killing several of Carrigan's men. Nadya distracts the Ghost Rider, who is shot with grenades. Nadya escapes but Danny is captured. Carrigan informs Roarke (who is actually Mephisto in disguise) about the Rider's interference and Roarke places a spell on Danny to stop the Rider from tracking him. Meanwhile, Blaze awakens in a hospital and leaves, following Nadya and convincing her to accept his help. Nadya reveals that Danny is Roarke's son.
That night, after interrogating Carrigan's contact, Johnny takes off to find Carrigan. The Rider emerges and takes on Carrigan's men, using an empowered mining machine to destroy their hideout and mortally wound Carrigan. The Rider turns on Nadya and attempts to use the Penance Stare on her, but Danny is able to stop him. Roarke finds Carrigan nearly dead and revives him, granting him the ability to decay anything he touches.
Johnny and Nadya bring Danny to the monastery, where Moreau explains that the Ghost Rider is an angel named Zarathos who was tortured and driven insane in Hell. Moreau tells Johnny that he can exorcise the spirit if Johnny tells a secret only he knows. Johnny confesses that his deal with Roarke was selfish: His father had accepted his cancer and was ready to die, but Johnny could not accept it. Moreau exorcises the spirit, and Johnny becomes human again. The head monk Methodius tries to kill Danny, but Carrigan kills the monks and recaptures Danny.
The ritual to transfer Roarke into Danny's body begins while Johnny, Nadya, and Moreau infiltrate the ceremony. Carrigan kills Moreau while Danny returns the Ghost Rider to Johnny. Danny grants the Rider the ability to stay in Rider form even in broad daylight; the Rider then pursues Roarke. The Rider kills Carrigan and flips the car that Roarke and Danny are in before using his chain to hurl Roarke back to Hell. With Roarke defeated, Zarathos regains his sanity and is restored to his previous incarnation as the Spirit of Justice. Channeling the blue flame of Zarathos, Johnny revives Danny. As Johnny is seen riding away in Rider form, the flames on his bike and body are now blue.
Marvel producer Avi Arad announced the development of Ghost Rider 2 at a press event in February 2007. Peter Fonda had also expressed a desire to return as Mephistopheles. In early December, Nicolas Cage also expressed interest to return in the lead role as Ghost Rider. Shortly after, in another interview he went on further to mention that he would enjoy seeing a darker story and suggested that the film could do with newly created villains. It was also rumored that the sequel would feature Danny Ketch, another Marvel character who took up the Ghost Rider mantle in the comics.
Reception
The film opened in 3,174 theaters at No. 3, with North American box office receipts of $22.1 million, behind Safe House, which moved to No. 1 on its second weekend. The Vow, the holdover from the previous week, made less than half of Ghost Rider's opening weekend of $45.4 million. It went on to gross $51.8 million at the U.S. box office and $80.8 – 97.4 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $132.6 – 149.2 million.
