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.
Man, this is sucky news from Comic-Con. During the Darwyn Cooke Spotlight panel, Cooke say he and J. Bone would be leaving The Spirit with issue #12. The series will continue with other writers.
This sucks, because it is clear Cooke really understands how to tell a Spirit story. The few issues that have come out that he hasn’t penned have – how shall I say this – weren’t up to par with the Cooke authored tales.
Cooke did say he has two graphic novels planned for the next two years – an all ages fairy tale and a tale about a man who’s life is unraveling as he deals with modern life.
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.
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.
DC Comics has slipped us a sneak peek of titles shipping next week including The Spirit #3 by Darwyn Cooke. I was hooked with issue #1 and can’t wait to see how long Cooke can keep up the great story and art. Take the jump for the previews of The Spirit, Superman, and the long delayed Wonder Woman #4.
Are you digging Darwyn Cooke’s The Spirit as much as we are? Issue #2 is just around the corner and DC Comics has released a sneak peek for you to check out. A sexy seductress is back, and it is up to The Spirit to stop her plans.
Here is how DC describes the issue:
Or – “Sure, One Has No Socks, But The Other Makes Up For It With A Great Belt…”
Batman-Tarzan. Aliens-Stormwatch. Punisher-Archie. The comic industry is known for weird “chocolate in my peanut butter moments.” Some of these are wondrous beasts where the two things combine into a greater whole, others leave the poor reader wondering who switched the chocolate and peanut butter for salsa and cheesecake. “Two great tastes that taste WEIRD together,” so sayeth the great philosopher Doug to his dad. So, when you take The Spirit, a character who is only a superhero because the syndicate required that Will Eisner draw a mask on him, and Batman, the quintessential superhero archetype, it’s weird. Yeah, they have many points in common: wacky foes, the dark streets of their respective cities, over-the-top femme fatales, older police commissioner mentors. But the basics of the characters are practically opposite. It’s like a Hollywood buddy movie: One’s a superhero masquerading as normal human, one’s a normal human masquerading as superhero. But where’s their common ground?
The Spirit will be coming to the silver screen in the next couple of years, but how did it finally get made? Denis Kitchen, agent and family representative for the Will Eisner estate, tells all in an interview with ICv2.com.
Finally Odd Lot Entertainment opens its office, he goes in and introduces himself to Deborah Del Prete and says, ‘I’ve got the best comic book property that’s never been made into a movie.’ And she put her hand up and said, ‘Stop, don’t tell me you’ve got The Spirit.’
More on the process is up at the ICv2.com website.
via ICv2.com (link)