Columbia faces a deadline of November 14th to begin production on Ghost Rider 2; the rights will revert to Marvel if the condition isn’t met, according to New York Magazine.  This presents a problem with star Nicolas Cage’s schedule, since Disney wants him to star in National Treasure 3, which could also be shooting by this fall.  Columbia may go forward Cage-less if necessary to preserve its rights to the film. 

David Goyer has been supervising script development (see “Ghost Rider 2 is No Reboot”).