Ghost Rider star Eva Mendes is joining the cast of Frank Miller’s The Spirit, according to Variety. Mendes will play the leading lady Sand Seref - the only girl to break The Spirit’s heart.
Gabriel Macht has been signed to play the Spirit, with Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson playing Silk N Floss and The Octopuss respectively.
Filming for The Spirit begins in October.
The Hollywood Reporter is stating Scarlett Johansson will be playing the part of Silk N. Floss in the upcoming Spirit movie written and directed by Frank Miller.
For “Spirit,” Miller’s adaptation of the classic Eisner film noir comic strip series, Johansson is in final negotiations to play a dangerous beauty named Silk N. Floss. Eisner’s strip was known for its women with dangerous curves, and Miller is intent on keeping that tradition. Floss is a sexy and intelligent secretary with a vindictive instinct that makes her the perfect accomplice to the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), an evil mastermind.
This news is a bit odd, because Miller said he was adapting the Sand Saref storyline to be used in the film. From the review I wrote here, neither the Octopus, nor Silk N. Floss appear in the story. Will have to investigate further.
Frank Miller has selected Gabriel Macht to star in his adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit movie.
Macht will play the title character, a man who has faked his own death so he can battle crime from the shadows of Central City. He runs up against the Octopus, a villain who’s bent on wiping out the entire city and kills anyone unlucky enough to see his face.
Macht had to audition with all the other actors who wanted to role.
“We think Gabriel has a devilishly charming quality, and the dry wit that embodies the Spirit, and we wanted to do this with someone who can embody this character for the next few years, because we anticipate we’ll be making more than one Spirit movie,” said Lionsgate prexy of film production Mike Paseornek.
The picture will begin shooting in October, and is expected to be in theaters in 2009.
According to Miller, the story he is adapting is the 1950s Sand Saref - which I reviewed yesterday.
Or - “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown”
It was two o’clock. The wind outside had died down, and I knew the rain was soon to come. The rain… like some harsh mistress that keeps mocking me; for the coming rain means yet another day the landscapers won’t be able to work on my sorry excuse for a yard.
The scent of whiskey still hung heavy in the air, and heavy on my breath, as I opened the tome that told the tale of Sand Saref. Sand Saref - what a dame. Word on the street is Frank Miller’s Spirit movie will be his interpretation of the Eisner comic from 1950. From Volume 20 of the DC archives, this isn’t an early story of Denny Colt, was written three years after I, The Jury debuted, and smacks of noir crime. San-Saref is a tale of murder, germ warfare, and most of all love. I’m no stool pigeon, but I thought I’d spill the beans on Sand Saref, in this Major Spoilers Retro Review.
In an interview with Variety, Frank Miller announced the forthcoming movie adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit will focus on the Sand Saref storyline, which made its debut in newspapers in 1950.
The story focuses on early germ-warfare, the Spirit’s first love who turned to a life of crime, espionage, and romance. The Spirit adventures had already been running in papers for 10 years before this storyline appeared.
“I’ve been writing every word of it myself and storyboarding every frame,” he says. “This is a real work of love, and it’s become my life completely.”
The Sand Saref storyline appears in DC’s Will Eisner’s Spirit Archives Volume 20.
Dynamite Entertainment has announced plans to release a hardcover edition of Frank Miller and Simon Bisley’s Bad Boys.
Originally produced as a strip for the British Edition of GQ, Bad Boy is a powerful piece of graphic fiction featuring the story of Jason, a little boy who comes to realize his parents aren’t who they claim to be, and he’s part of a sterile experimental community. Dynamite’s edition of Bad Boy will feature an all-new cover and sketches by Simon Bisley, created exclusively for this release!
The tenth anniversary of Bad Boys is scheduled for a November release and will sell for $14.99.
Red Mile Entertainment has announced it has entered into a licensing agreement to develop and publish video games based on Frank Miller’s Sin City.
“Taking Sin City into the world of video games is very exciting – games offer a whole new way to bring audiences into Sin City,” said Frank Miller. “The Red Mile team has impressed me with its dedication to creating Sin City video games that will remain true to Sin City as I’ve always seen it.”
Huh… a Sin City video game. My bet is there is going to be tons of violence and I would guess there will also be plenty of nudity should the lead character head to any of the local bars ala Dame to Kill For.
Imagine my surprise when this arrived in my comic shipment this week.
How about a gut reaction mini review?
Here’s your uh-oh alert for today! The Hollywood Reporter is reporting Frank Miller is in negotiations with Samuel L. Jackson to play the role of the Octopus, the Spirit’s nemesis who wants to take over Central City (not to be confused with that other Central City).
Miller said during an introduction of the project at the Festival de Cannes that Jackson is his first choice to play the evil genius who knows the secrets behind the Spirit. He added that he is beginning to mull different actors to play the comic book hero.
Hmmm… While I like Samuel L. as an actor, I’m a little concerned about him playing the arch-nemesis. If they kept the villain in the shadows like Darwyn Cooke has been doing in the comic, then this could be genius, but knowing actors like to be seen, I think we’ll be seeing a lot of Sam on screen.
What do you think?
Lionsgate has picked up the distribution rights to the live action adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit movie, written by Frank Miller.
“Will was a dear friend, a mentor, and translating his vision to the screen will be a labor of love,” Miller said.”The Spirit” will be produced by Pritzker and Del Prete, along with Lionsgate’s Mike Paseornek and Batfilm’s Michael Uslan. Benjamin Melniker will exec produce with Steve Maier, and Linda McDonough and F.J. DeSanto are co-producers.
As great as Frank Miller is, this film will be his first solo directing gig. He’s only co-directed one other film - Sin City with Robert Rodriquez, and I’m not sure learning the ropes from the man who breaks all the rules is the best way to learn a craft, but hey, that’s just me.
According to Variety, Ronin has been optioned by Warner Bros. to be made into a live-action feature directed by Sylvain White.
In the story, a ronin, or disgraced samurai warrior, bears the shame of allowing his master to be assassinated by a shape-shifting demon in 13th century Japan. When the master’s sword is unearthed in mid-21st century New York, the ronin and the demon are brought to life and battle gangs of mutants and thugs to try to take possession of the mythical sword.
Ronin will be shot on blue and greenscreen just like Miller’s 300 to help cut down on cost and give a unique look to the film.
While I liked 300 (and Sin City), using greenscreen to bring done production costs only works in highly stylized films. My fear is with the success of 300, more studios will look to this technique for all their films, and this just doesn’t work for everything.
Over the weekend, the Frank Miller graphic novel turned Zach Snyder direct Warner Bros. movie brought home a staggering $70 million in box office receipts, making it the third biggest R-rated movie opener.
Mark Canton, who produced “300″ with Gianni Nunnari, Jeff Silver and Bernie Goldmann, ascribed a large part of the movie’s success to Warners’ decision to roll it out during spring break. “That has now become a long window,” he said. Warner Bros. “took March and made it into summer.”
Warners wouldn’t say if there are any plans to turn “300″ — a pic shot entirely in a warehouse in Montreal for about $60 million — into a franchise. “I don’t know if there’s a ‘301,’ ” Fellman said. “Maybe there’s a ‘299.’ “
via Variety (link)
MTV has posted 300 seconds of Frank Miller’s 300 scheduled to open March 9. Dang, if this is the first part of the film, then I’m hooked and can’t wait to get in line on Friday. The film is highly stylized, which may put some people off, but I think if you see past the effects and focus on the story/action, you’ll be able to enjoy the film more.
via MTV (link)
Head on over to the Apple QuickTime website to see the 300 trailer in glorious 1080p.
Wow! Really…Wow! Can’t wait to see this in the theatre.
via Apple (link)
The Hollywood Reporter spilled the beans early on The Spirit movie adaptation. According to the industry mag, comic legend Frank Miller will be adapting and directing the flick. Will Eisner’s The Spirit - one of the most influential comics of all time - is being produced by Odd Lot Entertainment’s Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker who will also finance the film. Also producing is Michael Uslan.
According to Uslan, Miller is the best person to direct the film.
What makes Frank’s involvement with ‘The Spirit’ particularly poignant was his special relationship with Will Eisner, captured last year in the book ‘Eisner-Miller.’ You have two of the medium’s greatest storytellers of sequential art and cinematic comics discussing the compelling and controversial art form. (source Hollywood Reporter).
Miller was a co-director of Sin City, and knowing how well the movie was adapted from the graphic novels, I’m sure Miller will take Eisner’s source material and do the film justice. According to Uslan, Eisner gave his approval to the film before his passing last year.
Production should begin in about a year.
Via Hollywood Reporter (link)
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