Eva Mendes & Scarlett Johansson Show Their Spirit (JustJared.com)

Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes attend the launch party for their upcoming film The Spirit at London’s Old Sorting Office Thursday night.

Scarlett, 23, plays femme fatale secretary Silken Floss, while Eva, 34, portrays Sand Saref, a love interest for The Spirit himself.

Written and directed by Frank Miller, the film is adapted from a classic Will Eisner comic and also stars Gabriel Macht as The Spirit and Samuel L. Jackson as his nemesis, The Octopus.

The Spirit is scheduled for release on December 25th.

Click HERE to See More Than 50 Photos of Scarlett & Eva!

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Comic-book fans bring out 'Spirit' (USA Today)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

By Kelley L. Carter
USA TODAY
Dec. 18, 2008

If you ask nicely, resident movie mean guy Samuel L. Jackson will tick off a laundry list of comic books he loved as a kid, and sometimes, still reads.

"Superman, Batman, The Flash, Aquaman, Silver Surfer, you know, the ordinary," said the actor, who stars in the upcoming The Spirit, which premiered Wednesday night..

Opening Christmas Day, it stars Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Scarlett Johansson and Gabriel Macht. Jackson plays his nemesis, The Octopus.

"It's pure boy stuff," Jackson said of comic-based films. "Guys like to chase each other and hit each other over the head."

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Frank Miller & Cast Get into Spirit of 'The Spirit' (Newsarama.com)

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeBy Lucas Siegel
17 December 2008

The NYC-inspired "Central City" is character in of-itself in comic book legend Will Eisner's seminal work The Spirit. So perhaps it was appropriate that when it was time for cast and crew to gather for a press event promoting Frank Miller's solo-directorial debut big screen adaptation of the comic book, they descended on New York City, rather than the more suburban metropolis that is Hollywood.

Present at the weekend press conference was Miller, along with star Gabriel Macht [The Spirit], Eva Mendes [Sand Saref], Scarlett Johansson [Silken Floss], Samuel L. Jackson [The Octopus], Dan Lauria, [Commissioner Dolan], and Sarah Paulson [Ellen Dolan]. The stars took their seats, and the questions began.

Question: Gabriel, this seems to be your big breakthrough, can you talk about your experience playing The Spirit? And Scarlett, how did you come into this role?

Gabriel Macht: My name is Gabriel Macht, I play El Spirito [laughs]. In many ways, any part you get as an actor has the potential for breaking through, and I feel like I’ve done a bunch of those in my career, but honestly this one happens to have the biggest potential because I’m involved with Frank’s vision of the film. There’s no greater opportunity for a younger actor than to play The Spirit, and I had the best time working on the film, so hopefully people come and see it and we can make a couple more!

Scarlett Johansson: I’m Scarlett Johansson, and I play Silken Floss...

Frank Miller: [interrupts] Doesn’t she make that sound great? [laughter from the audience]

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Variety Reviews "The Spirit" Movie: It Sucks

Image by Strandell via FlickrHere's an excerpt from today's Variety review of "The Spirit" movie by Justin Chang. Let's keep reminding ourselves that this is Frank Miller's Spirit, not Will Eisner's. Any similarity is clearly coincidental, as we all feared:

There's a lot going on here, but none of it sticks -- not theshopworn plotting nor the arch, stilted dialogue. The actors often seemto be delivering their lines in ironic quote marks, suggesting astraight-faced sendup of noir and comicbook conventions that, whateverthe intended effect, falls mostly flat.

The Spirit himselfdoesn't supply much of a rooting interest; Macht's role is colorless inmore ways than one, and we see more of the actor's nicely sculptedtorso than his face (most bigscreen heroes have the decency to take offtheir masks once in a while). Mendes and Lauria come off better,injecting their perfs with sizzle and bite, respectively.

Click here to read the review in its entirety: http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939232.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

And if you're still not convinced it's bad, over at Ain't It Cool News, their reviewer says "The Spirit" movie "replaced Battlefield Earth as the worst movie" he's ever seen.

Read the AICN review here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39450

Can you say "reboot"?

Somehow I don't think this movie is going to sell any more copies of my biography, Will Eisner: A Spirited Life!

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Entertainment Tonight Video: The Spirit Stars Interviewed at Red Carpet Premiere

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Q&A: Samuel L. Jackson (THR.com)

Image by cliff1066 via Flickr

By Jerry Edling

Nov 30, 2008

THR: With all this producing, you're still active as an actor. Tell us a little about "The Spirit."

Samuel L. Jackson: I've been trying to work with Frank Miller for a while -- and trying to acquire one of his properties. I spent a lot of time in comic book stores, always have, since I was a kid, and I was never able to contact him, but he knew of my interest. When they did "Sin City," I was talking to Quentin (Tarantino) and I told him, "How can you do this thing and I'm not in it?" And he told Frank, and Frank was impressed that I even, you know, knew what it was and wanted to be a part of it. So when "The Spirit" came up, he said I was the person that he thought of to play the Octopus.

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Neil Gaiman Plans to Skip Frank Miller's "The Spirit" Movie

Neil Gaiman via Wikipedia

"A nice article from MTV about Amanda Palmer & me, and then I clicked on the next link, read what Frank Miller said about his Spirit movie, and decided that given his description of it, I'd probably skip it, but am still happy that it will get a lot of people reading collections of The Spirit who would never have picked up or heard of Will Eisner's wonderful comic otherwise. (You can read about how I first encountered The Spirit in http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2005/01/spirit-of-seventy-five.asp)."
— Neil Gaiman writing in his online blog.

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• mostly written yesterday actually

Dr Hermes Retro-Scans - Cheeky fun with Klaus Nordling's LADY LUCK

Dr. Hermes takes a look at an often overlooked Will Eisner creation, "Lady Luck," as developed by long-time Eisner associate and friend Klaus Nordling.

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A Slew of Fresh Photos From 'The Spirit' Unraveled (AceShowBiz.com)

One of more than two dozen new photos from The Spirit movie just posted on AceShowBiz.com.

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Bemoaning The Spirit (Film Threat.com)

Image via Wikipediaby Mike Watt
Writer's Corner
Oct. 20, 2008 3:33 PM PDT

While some in my family and all of my friends insist that I’ve already raised enough of a ruckus, I just can’t keep quiet about The Spirit movie any longer. Having been subjected to the new trailer in theaters twice now, I really have to voice my concern: in the hands of uber-ego Frank Miller, Will Eisner’s groundbreaking and inspiring character has been rendered parody. This isn’t a simple matter of artistic license or Hollywood insensitivity. This movie is shaping up to be nothing short of heresy.

Granted, I am judging this movie solely by the trailer and the two previous teasers that had already burned a hole in my gut. Perhaps it’s unfair to level criticism this early. But what are trailers for, anymore, but giving the audience a capsulated synopsis of an entire movie? Therefore, judging solely by the trailer, the movie’s title is an egregious irony—there is nothing about The Spirit movie to suggest that it has maintained “the spirit” of The Spirit.

Obviously, it’s no co-incidence that it took until the first full-length trailer for creator Will Eisner’s name to even be mentioned in connection with this Sin City-celebratory train wreck. I could easily see Will posthumously wanting his name removed from this movie.

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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Must Watch: Great Featurette on the Origin of The Spirit (FirstShowing.net)

Image by Strandell via Flickrby Alex Billington
October 20, 2008

Lionsgate has released a great behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of Frank Miller's The Spirit, which, like Sin City before it, was shot entirely on green screen stages. The featurette looks at the origin of The Spirit, going all the way back to Will Eisner's comic strips and Frank Miller's friendship with Eisner. As fantastic as this video is, they finally feature some of the more cheesy and over-the-top scenes that we complained about back during Comic-Con. Everytime I watched some new from this movie, I wonder whether I'm not thinking straight and if it really will be fantastic? As Frank Miller says, this isn't a tribute to Will Eisner, this is a tribute to The Spirit! Is anyone convinced that it may be good yet?

Click here to WATCH!

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The Spirit: My City Screams (And So Do Fans of the Comic Book) (Spout Blog)

Image via Wikipedia"We talked about Frank Miller’s highly anticipated film adaptation of Will Eisner’s long running comic book The Spirit back at Comic-Con when the scenes failed to impress us. In fact, they felt like they were straight out of Sin City Redux. It’s been a few months since we were underwhelmed; have the filmmakers changed anything? Not based on the clip we were sent this week. Despite being a self-proclaimed fan of Will Eisner, Frank Miller is managing to stomp the life out of every facet that made The Spirit a compelling comic. Check out the video and find out why we’re not happy."—Kevin Kelly

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Frank Miller, Don't Read This, Part 15 (i09.com)

By Graeme McMillan
io9.com
Oct. 15, 2008

I've noticed a trend: We do a post about the upcoming movie version of The Spirit, and commenters complain that we're too negative about it. Is it a ploy to bury Frank Miller's directing career, you ask? Why are we hating so much on a movie that we've not seen, and judging it on solely on the trailers and interviews and pre-release hype that we're supposed to be excited about? Well, speaking solely for myself, the reason that I'm afraid of the Spirit movie is because of why I love the Spirit comics.

At its best, The Spirit newspaper strip was about so much more than crime fighters in masks and smart suits and femme fatales: It was all about groundbreaking look and storytelling that slowly but surely turned away from the genre stereotypes towards something that was both larger in scope and smaller in execution. It's not just that the strips were good in and of themselves - although they are, or else they wouldn't be worth reading more than half a century after they were created - but that there was an added thrill that came from watching Eisner and his studio creators stretching the boundaries and expectations of the entire medium on a weekly basis. As Alex has already mentioned, the splash pages brought influences from outside of comics to bear, redefining not only the way that comics could look, but the way that creators thought about the way that comics could look... but just as importantly as the visuals, the writing of the series evolved throughout the strip's initial 12-year run, outgrowing its pulp origins to become something more Runyonesque and humanist; as the series went on, stories would center on characters as more than just stereotypes or plot devices but as individuals in their own right (This focus on the little guy continued in Eisner's later work on books like The Dreamer, The Building and Invisible People).

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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DC rush solicits "The Spirit Special" #1 (CBR News)

Image via Wikipedia

Official Press Release

With Frank Miller's highly anticipated movie of The Spirit coming in December, DC Comics rush solicits THE SPIRIT SPECIAL #1.

"We're pleased to offer this Special based on suggestions made at the Diamond retailer summit in Las Vegas," says Bob Wayne, DC's VP - Sales. "This issue will be a great way to introduce curious customers to The Spirit as the movie gets closer."

Offered at a cover price of $2.99 US, this 32-page comic includes a cover four classic stories by Will Eisner: 1947's "Sign of the Octopus," 1949's "Black Alley," and "Sand Saref" and "Bring in Sand Saref," both from 1950.

THE SPIRIT SPECIAL #1 (SEP088005) is scheduled to arrive in stores on November 19 and has a Final Order Cutoff date of Thursday, October 30.

Retailers may order this item by contacting their Diamond Customer Service Representative or DC Sales Representative, or by email at reorders@diamondcomics.com.

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Movie Poster Contest for "The Spirit"

Image by Strandell via Flickr

Frank Miller couldn't get it right, so Odd Lot and Lionsgate are asking fans to help them out of the deep hole they've dug for themselves on Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit. Good luck!

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New SPIRIT trailer, with Comments (PW Comics/The Beat)

Image by Strandell via Flickr

Heidi McDonald posted the latest Frank Miller's Will Eisner's Spirit movie trailer at her blog, "The Beat," on Publishers Weekly and attracted dozens of responses.

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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Steven De Souza Reflects On His 1987 ‘The Spirit’ TV Pilot And Frank Miller’s Take (MTV Splash Page)

Image by Strandell via FlickrPublished by Rick Marshall
Friday, October 10, 2008

Sure, everyone’s been talking about Frank Miller’s “The Spirit,” but this isn’t the first time Will Eisner’s classic character has taken a turn in the live-action medium.

Way back in 1987, screenwriter Steven de Souza was fresh off a pair of genre-defining hits with “48 Hours” and “Commando.” Just before undertaking the project that would become one of his best-known films, “Die Hard,” de Souza wrote and produced a television pilot based on “The Spirit” — the first live-action adaptation of the long-running comic strip. While the series was never picked up, the 74-minute film has lived on as a cult classic of sorts among comic fans.

With Miller’s take on “The Spirit” currently suffering the slings and arrows of early fan critique, MTV News thought it might be interesting to reach out to the writer who first brought “The Spirit” into the live-action world for a chat about Miller’s spin and the task of bringing the character to screens big and small.

“I do notice that they seem to have done quite a few things that I did [in the 1987 TV pilot],” said de Souza of Miller’s take on “The Spirit.” “Because of the limitations of my budget, we couldn’t afford to do a period piece, so we did no period at all. We took all of the marks off the cars, had the men wear hats and used dial telephones — so our picture looked like ‘The Incredibles’ and takes place in some vague post-War period.”

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

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The 10 Remaining Must-See Movies of 2008 (Film School Rejects)

Image by Strandell via Flickr9. The Spirit (December 25)

This list is about “must see” movies, not necessarily “sure to be great” movies. Sure, Frank Miller’s adaptation of the classic Will Eisner comic may have all the makings of a massive, bloody, CNN headline-grabbing train wreck — but like all great train wrecks and epic disasters in history, there is the distinct possibility that we won’t be able to look away.

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

"That's The Spirit" (David Lemon)

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

"My favourite comic of all time- or at least a tie with Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library series- is Will Eisner's 'The Spirit'. He may have started off as a slightly generic Dick Tracy-ish character with a hint of Batman, but he soon became a lot more than that. Eisner's beautiful worldless sequences, surreal 'splash' pages and sheer willingness to experiment have influenced everyone from Alan Moore to Frank Miller, so it should be no surprise that the latter is bringing it to the big screen."
— David Lemon writing in his blog post, "That's the Spirit."

Click HERE to Keep Reading!

Samuel L. Jackson IS Wiley E. Coyote, Super-Genius (MTV)

Image via Wikipedia

“['The Spirit'] is a comic book. You can call ‘The Dark Knight’ a comic book, but no, it’s a graphic novel. There’s a difference between a comic book and a graphic novel.

“‘The Spirit’ is funny. It’s tongue-in-cheek, wry humor. It’s sort of Wile E. Coyote with real people. We hit each other with big things [and] we’re both kind of indestructible, so it’s funny in that way. We get shot up, we get stabbed up, we just don’t die.”
—Samuel L. Jackson, a lifelong comic book fan who, instead of reassuring fellow fans, wound up scaring them even more in an MTV Splash Page interview with Rick Marshall.

New Samuel L. Jackson poster for Frank Miller's Will Eisner's "The Spirit" Movie

Discovered on Ugo.com!

The Spirit Theatrical Trailer (YouTube)

Samuel L. Jackson Breaks Hearts of Will Eisner Fans (Collider.com)

"It’s a cartoon..."
—Samuel L. Jackson, co-star of Frank Miller's Will Eisner's The Spirit -- and a lifetime comics fans -- commenting on the movie. He was interviewed by Charlie Mihelich of Collider.com.

Scarlett Johansson on Frank Miller (Los Angeles Daily News)

BOB STRAUSS, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS: Next up, you’re Silken Floss in Frank Miller’s movie adaptation of Will Eisner’s comics hero The Spirit. How was that?

SCARLETT JOHANSSON: Working with Frank Miller was so exciting for me. He’s such a visionary. He’ll literally sit the crew there and come in with a big storyboard that he’s drawn out and lead you through it. Then everybody disperses all excited about the next thing. It’s so much fun. And I loved playing this big, sexy character whose dialogue is so black and white. Then there’s Sam Jackson, who I’ve always admired and is so great to work with; you couldn’t ask for a more exciting co-star who is such a pro.

Click here to Keep Reading!

LiveVideo.com Presents The Spirit Movie Panel (Video)

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"The Spirit" Stars Samuel L. Jackson and Jaime King Video Interview (G4-Attack of the Show)

Frank Miller, Don't Read This, Part 7

"To call The Spirit panel the biggest disaster of 2008’s convention is something of an understatement. This thing went off like a stale pop rock. Miller was cranky and unlikable. The producer they wedged between him and Sam Jackson was controlling, overbearing, and utterly annoying. Jackson was given nothing to talk about except the size of his guns, as if we’re all so stupid that the simple fact of him holding a firearm is enough to make anything he’s in automatically good.

"The panel droned on and on and on, while Miller and the annoying producer next to him talked about what a cinematic genius he is, even though he’s only ever directed half a movie. A little humility might have been in order. Instead, we were treated to pre-emptive proclamation’s of Miller’s brilliance, and those who weren’t half-asleep within the first five minutes were eventually treated to never before see clips from the film… which were disastrous."
-- Josh Tyler, writing "Comic Con: The Spirit Panel Bombs" at CinemaBlend.com

Will Eisner's The Spirit movie poster slideshow! (Yahoo!)

16 images even a skeptical fan can't ignore...

Free Comic-Con Magazine featuring The Spirit!

You can get a free copy of Comic-Con Magazine featuring Samuel L. Jackson on the cover as "The Octopus," arch-enemy of The Spirit in the upcoming Frank Miller movie, Will Eisner's The Spirit. The issue - which can either be downloaded as a PDF por requested via snail mail - includes an exclusive interview with Miller about the movie.

Order your copy by clicking here.

Samuel L. Jackson is "The Octopus" on Comic-Con Cover

Click here to read all about it!

(And thanks, as always to Comics2Film.com!)

'Spirit' moves up release to Dec. 25! (Hollywood Reporter)

Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson star in the film

By Carolyn Giardina

May 6, 2008, 10:52 PM

Hollywood Reporter

Lionsgate has moved up the nationwide release of its comic adaptation "The Spirit" -- written and directed by Frank Miller -- to Dec. 25.

The film, based on the comic book series created by the late Will Eisner, was originally slated to open Jan. 16, 2009.

Also slated to open on Dec. 25 are Disney's "Bedtime Stories" and Fox 2000 Pictures' "Marley & Me."

Of the move, Lionsgate president of theatrical films Tom Ortenberg said: "Comic-Con fans (in New York in March) resoundingly confirmed what we felt in our bones about 'The Spirit': this is a great film and an irresistible piece of entertainment. ... For all of us, it was an easy decision."

"The Spirit" stars Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Stana Katic, Dan Lauria, Jaime King, Paz Vega and Louis Lombardi. Odd Lot Entertainment and Lionsgate are production partners.

International release dates have not yet been announced. Sony Pictures Releasing International is handling distribution in many European territories and Latin America. Odd Lot International is distributing to the rest of the world, except for the U.K. and Australia, where the film is being released by Lionsgate.

"The Spirit" Teaser Gives Just A Taste Of The Goods (io9.com)

Even the few moments of footage managed to captivate the entire audience, from the ringing phone and the cat-strewn floor to the rooftop acrobatics and the typically Miller-esque monologue.

Miller said, 'I tried to translate [Eisner's] vision into a modern film. Look for his touch, you'll see it. For purists it will be a bit of a shock, but I have to say it's a hell of a ride." Actress Eva Mendes was also along for the screening and took a bit of offense when MTV host Kurt Loder accused her of being one of Eisnner's many 'hot babes' to which Mendes replied, "Hell no, I play a jewel thief who has been married 15 times and has killed all of them. Does that sound like a hot chick?" Well, yeah actually.

Click here to keep reading io9's excellent coverage; don't miss the great comments from readers at the end of the post!

Even More PIctures From Will Eisner's The Spirit Movie (IGN/FirstShowing.net)

IGN gets credit for debuting these pictures of Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus and Scarlett Johansson as Silk N. Floss. But there is a real interesting message board going about the pictures on FirstShowing.Net.Worth a read!

Raging Debate Over Frank Miller's "Interpretation" of Will Eisner's The Spirit

We hear a lot of whispering about Frank Miller's upcoming cinematic take on Will Eisner's "The Spirit." And with the first trailer due to be released in just a few days at New York Comic-Con, the whispering is picking up steam, especially as the first green screen images were leaked to the fan press a few days ago.

Of course, if you're old enough to remember the brouhaha about Michael Keaton as "Batman," you know it's too early to accurately judge.

On the other hand Brandon Routh as "Superman"? Terribly miscast, poor guy.

Anyway, if you'd like to keep up with the debate - or participate in the conversation - check out this message board over at The Comics Journal. You can also see green screen shots there of Gabriel Macht as The Spirit, Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus, and several more, including a hot shot of Eva Mendes.

The Spirit Movie Countdown Clock! (Get Yours!)

Sunken Spirit (Living Between Wednesdays)

Add blogger Rachelle Goguen to the growing list of Will Eisner fans who have "concerns" about the direction of the "Spirit" movie. Of course, every comics-to-film translation I can remember has gone through this, but it makes for interesting conversation and debate:

So I, like many comic fans, have some...concerns...about the upcoming film based on The Spirit, being made by Frank Miller. Basically: I think it is going to suck. Every time I see or hear anything about it, I get cranky. But this quote, from a Newsarama article, is the most bothersome thing I've read yet: Miller later directs a scene from near the film’s finale in which the Spirit delivers a powerful right cross to the chin of The Octopus, played by Samuel L. Jackson. “From the start, I wanted Sam Jackson to play The Octopus because I’ve always wanted to work with Sam Jackson,” Miller says. “It seems to me he’s always had a part like this inside waiting to get out.” The villain, who famously never showed his face in Eisner’s comics, will be slightly less mysterious in the film. “I knew I couldn’t get away with two hours of a guy whose face you never see,” Miller said. WHAT?! The Octopus has existed as a character for almost seven decades. In all that time his face has never been revealed. Now Frank Miller gets to decide what he looks like? And it's Samuel L Jackson?!

Click here to keep reading!

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Frank Miller Brings 'Spirit' World To Life With Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson (MTV)

By Larry Carroll
MTV News
Nov 15 2007

'I am a kid in a candy store,' first-time director says of unlikely potential blockbuster.

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — You have more objects in your living room than are present on the massive soundstage housing the production of "Will Eisner's 'The Spirit.' " The director is a Hollywood newcomer, on the verge of his 51st birthday. Samuel L. Jackson is wearing a black-and-white fur coat, with similarly colored eyebrows to match. Welcome to the set of Tinseltown's most unlikely potential blockbuster.

"This is the only way I have been trained to direct, and I love it because it brings [directing] closer to the art of the page," Frank Miller explained this week, moving from his "Sin City" co-directing apprenticeship to his very own Home-Depot-size warehouse drenched in green. "I am a kid in a candy store."

The candy store is called "Will Eisner's 'The Spirit,' " based on a 67-year-old character and the decades-long friendship Miller shared with its creator. Eisner may not have lived long enough to see actors like Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johannson and Gabriel Macht bring his eccentric characters to the silver screen, but Miller still feels his presence every day.

"I was just 13 years old when I came across Will Eisner's 'The Spirit,' published by Jim Warren, and was blown away," the graphic novelist-turned-filmmaker remembered. "I thought it was somebody new to comics, because it was so far ahead of anything else coming out. I felt it, religiously. There was one night when I picked up the latest issue of 'The Spirit,' and I was so excited, I had to stop by a lamppost in Vermont where I lived and read it on the spot. That was the Sand Saref story, which is now the basis of this movie."

Click here to keep reading!

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

Links to "Will Eisner's The Spirit" Stories On The Set

Frank Miller Brings 'Spirit' World To Life With Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson
By Larry Carroll
Nov 15 2007 8:55 PM EST

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — You have more objects in your living room than are present on the massive soundstage housing the production of "Will Eisner's 'The Spirit.' " The director is a Hollywood newcomer, on the verge of his 51st birthday. Samuel L. Jackson is wearing a black-and-white fur coat, with similarly colored eyebrows to match. Welcome to the set of Tinseltown's most unlikely potential blockbuster.

"This is the only way I have been trained to direct, and I love it because it brings [directing] closer to the art of the page," Frank Miller explained this week, moving from his "Sin City" co-directing apprenticeship to his very own Home-Depot-size warehouse drenched in green. "I am a kid in a candy store."

The candy store is called "Will Eisner's 'The Spirit,'" based on a 67-year-old character and the decades-long friendship Miller shared with its creator. Eisner may not have lived long enough to see actors like Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johannson and Gabriel Macht bring his eccentric characters to the silver screen, but Miller still feels his presence every day.

Click Here to Keep Reading!

On the set of 'The Spirit'

By Rob M. Worley
November 16, 2007

"Cut! Why are you smiling?"

"You told me to smile."

"No, no, SNARL, not smile."

So goes the exchange between Frank Miller and actor Gabriel Macht on the set of 'The Spirit', Frank Miller's new film based on Will Eisner's long-running comic strip. Macht, decked out in a fedora, black eye mask, dark suit and red tie has been hanging off a mock up of what looks to be a fire escape for several minutes. Once Miller has gotten his shot, Macht takes a few moments to speak to us about what it is like to play the title character of the latest Frank Miller project.

Macht, last seen opposite Mandy Moore in 'Because I Said So' and 'The Good Shepherd' has died his typically blond hair brown and his once brown eyes are now a light blue comes off as incredibly gracious. He is humbled to be starring as the title character in 'The Spirit' and is thrilled with the opportunity. Then again, for this thirty-five year old actor, this could be the role that launches Macht from virtual obscurity to Hollywood's latest leading man. "To have Frank as a Director, it's a dream come true for me; it's mind blowing how fortunate I feel. I am having a brilliant time and everyone is at the top of their game."

Click Here to Keep Reading!




On the Set of Will Eisner's The Spirit

Source: Edward Douglas

November 14, 2007

Earlier this week, ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! flew down to Albuquerque, New Mexico to visit the green screen sets of Will Eisner's The Spirit, which director Frank Miller has been shooting at the city's new facilities, Albuquerque (ABQ) Studios. It brings to life Will Eisner's classic comic book character Denny Colt, a police officer in Central City who was killed in action, but then returned as The Spirit, a masked crimefighter who has a way of attracting the ladies—and not only the nice ones—but who's thwarted at every turn by the evil mastermind The Octopus.

The film is being made much like Miller's Sin City and Zack Snyder's adaptation of Miller's 300 with actors doing all of their performances in front of a green screen and all the backgrounds and environments created using the latest computer graphics. This was ComingSoon.net's second visit to an all green screen set after spending some time on the set of 300 two years ago, and while one might not expect there to not be a lot to write about when a movie is being made with no actual sets, in fact, there's still stuff to see, since it's an interesting process that requires a lot of clever workarounds for things that tend to be easy when using practical sets, such as how actors interact with objects within their environment, or lack thereof.

The production had taken up two of the larger soundstages at the brand new Albuquerque Studios facility, where security was extremely tight. Cameras and audio recording were verboten, and anyone who wanted to visit the stages needed to turn in their personal ID in order to get a special badge with an image of what looked like a Frank Miller drawn full body portrait of The Spirit. There wasn't any question that it was worth losing or forgetting your driver's license or passport there, if it meant a chance to watch a master like Miller at work. The Spirit is the first production to use the complex's two newest stages and they were on Day 27 of a shoot that would be going through December 14.

Click Here to Keep Reading!

Watch the latest videos on YouTube.com

On Set With Frank Miller and "Will Eisner's The Spirit" (Comic Book Resources)

by Andy Khouri, Staff Writer
Posted: November 15, 2007

"This is the single greatest opportunity I've ever had as an actor, I can't even describe how fortunate I feel to be here, it's mind-bloggling" said Gabriel Macht, the performer who'll bring to life on screen one of the comics page's most venerable masked, crimefighting heroes in "Will Eisner's The Spirit." CBR News was privileged to speak with the actor earlier this week on the 27th day of shooting on the film's set in Albuquerque, NM, where Macht had just finished shooting a scene in which he as Denny Colt -- aka The Spirit -- utterly clobbers his archenemy The Octopus (in the form of Samuel L. Jackson).

Seeing the action with one's own eyes, it is impossible to tell where or when in the film the scene takes place. The soundstage at Albuquerque Studios is occupied by little more than a handful of production staff; a camera; two actors; one or two reporters, obviously; and a startlingly enormous amount of green screens surrounding the gymnasium-sized space in all directions. Fortunately, there are a number of storyboards pinned up around set that give guests a clearer picture of what's going on in the scene. Even more fortunately, they're all drawn by Frank Miller.

Set for a January 2009 release by Lionsgate Entertainment, "The Spirit" is written and directed by Frank Miller, himself one of modern comics' most revered icons and a devoted fan, protege and dear friend of Will Eisner. "It's a real privilege [to be directing 'The Spirit']," Miller told CBR News. "I'm in love with the material and doing my best to be fair to it." "This is the single greatest opportunity I've ever had as an actor, I can't even describe how fortunate I feel to be here, it's mind-bloggling" said Gabriel Macht, the performer who'll bring to life on screen one of the comics page's most venerable masked, crimefighting heroes in "Will Eisner's The Spirit." CBR News was privileged to speak with the actor earlier this week on the 27th day of shooting on the film's set in Albuquerque, NM, where Macht had just finished shooting a scene in which he as Denny Colt -- aka The Spirit -- utterly clobbers his archenemy The Octopus (in the form of Samuel L. Jackson).




Click here to keep reading!

The Spirit will shoot in Albuquerque, New Mexico

ABQ Studios to host TV series, film featuring Samuel L. Jackson

New Mexico Business Weekly
August 22, 2007

by Megan Kamerick

NMBW Staff

Two more productions will begin shooting this fall at Albuquerque Studios, including a feature film starring Samuel L. Jackson.

Frank Miller (the writer behind "Sin City" and "300") will direct "Will Eisner's The Spirit," based on Eisner's series "The Spirit." Eisner is considered by many to be the father of the graphic novel.

"The Spirit" is a comic book series with a film noir feel. The adaptation will star Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson and Gabriel Macht in a fantasy thriller about a rookie cop (played by Macht) who returns from the dead to fight crime as The Spirit, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"It's going to be very exciting," Smerigan says. "The cast and the crew are top notch and we're really excited about them being here. Not only is it a big feature production for Albuquerque and New Mexico, but it's a big giant feature film."

The film will start production in October and will be shot entirely at Albuquerque Studios on two stages. Shooting will run through the middle of January, says Nick Smerigan, chief operating officer of Albuquerque Studios. Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker of Odd Lot Entertainment will produce along with Michael Uslan of Batfilm Productions.

Odd Lot and Lionsgate are production partners for the film, with Lionsgate holding domestic and United Kingdom rights, according to the Reporter.

Samuel L. Jackson on The Spirit Movie: AintItCoolNews.com

There is always great stuff to be found on the AintItCoolNews.com site and here's a great example: Quint's interview with Samuel L. Jackson, who will play "The Octopus" in Frank Miller's film version of "Will Eisner's The Spirit."

You can read the interview in its entirety here.

Quint: Another comic book that you’re being mentioned with is THE SPIRIT, that Frank Miller is doing.

Samuel L. Jackson: Hmm… Yeah…

Quint: Yeah?

[Samuel L. Jackson chuckles]

Samuel L. Jackson: Yeah, which will probably be fun actually... They’re still in the process of trying to cast a bunch of people for the film. I don’t know if I’m the only person that is doing it or not. I think I heard the other day that they had somebody to play SPIRIT.

Quint: Yeah, Gabriel Macht.

Samuel L. Jackson: Oh, OK. So it looks like it’s coming together and I’m looking forward to doing that.

Quint: Have you met with Frank yet?

Samuel L. Jackson: Frank? Yeah, I’ve talked to Frank a few times.

Quint: He’s a real cool guy. I’ve had the chance to talk to him a couple of times.

Samuel L. Jackson: Yeah, he’s amazingly cool.

Quint: He’s pretty much everything you would expect upon meeting him and he’s just so smart and knows what he is doing. I’m really looking forward to what he does with the movie, especially since he was mentored by Will Eisner.

Samuel L. Jackson: We’re hoping to just have a really great time shooting this film. I’m just looking forward to see who else he can get in it and there should be a lot of people attracted to it, because of the nature of the project and the nature of the people that are doing it, so hopefully that will happen.

WHOA! Eva Mendes & Scarlett Johansson Join The Spirit Movie!

Posted: Tue., Aug. 21, 2007, 4:55pm PT

Mendes gets in Frank Miller's 'Spirit'
Actress joins Johansson, Jackson in cast

By DAVE MCNARY

Eva Mendes will round out the cast for Frank Miller's "The Spirit," joining Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and Gabriel Macht.

Pic, produced by Lionsgate and Odd Lot, will begin lensing in October at New Mexico's Albuquerque Studios.

Miller wrote the script and will direct the movie, which marks the start of a multipic pact under which Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment will co-finance and co-produce together. Story centers on a rookie cop who fakes his own death so he can fight crime from the shadows.

Lionsgate has domestic and U.K. rights and is scheduled to release the film in 2009.

Odd Lot's Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker will produce along with Michael Uslan of Batfilm Prods; Batfilm co-founder Benjamin Melniker and Steve Maier are exec producers. Odd Lot's Linda McDonough and Batfilm's F.J. DeSanto co-produce.

Mendes was most recently in Columbia's "Ghost Rider" and will be seen next in Columbia's "We Own the Night." She's currently filming Picturehouse's "The Women."

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970627.html

© 2007 Reed Business Information

Gabriel Macht is Will Eisner's The Spirit!

Posted: Thurs., Aug. 2, 2007, 1:59pm PT

Gabriel Macht to star in 'Spirit'
Sony picks up rights to comicbook adaptation

By MICHAEL FLEMING, DIANE GARRETT

Writer-director Frank Miller has tapped Gabriel Macht to star in "Will Eisner's The Spirit," the Miller-scripted adaptation of the classic Eisner comic book series.

Shooting on the pic co-financed by Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment begins in October for release in 2009. Odd Lot partners Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete produce.

The Bronx-born Macht was most recently seen in "The Good Shepherd" and just wrapped the Dominic Sena-directed "Whiteout," in which he stars opposite Kate Beckinsale.

Separately, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has picked up several overseas territories for "Will Eisner's The Spirit" from Odd Lot Intl.

Sony will distribute the comicbook adaptation, Miller's first solo directing effort, in France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and wide swaths of Latin America. Lionsgate is distributing the pic Stateside and in the U.K. (Daily Variety, May 16).

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.

Read the full article at Variety.com.

© 2007 Reed Business Information

EUROPEAN JEWISH PRESS: EU Rejects Will Eisner's "Plot"

EU parliament refuses book denouncing the 'Protocols of Elders of Zion'

By Yossi Lempkowicz European Jewish Press Updated: 14/Jun/2007 17:03

The “Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion” aims to shed light on the Protocols and the damage and suffering they have caused throughout history, as well as the negative impact they are having today.

BRUSSELS (EJP)---The European Parliament has refused to distribute to MEPs a book denouncing the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, an anti-Semitic literary forgery.

Produced by the Okhrana, the Russian Czar’s secret police, in 1905, the Protocols accuse the Jews of plotting to rule the world.

Last month, the Transatlantic Institute, a Brussels-based think-tank fostering ties among the EU, Israel and the US, sent copies of “The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion” written by American Will Eisner in a comic-book form, to the 785 members of the European Parliament and their staff.

The “Plot” aims to shed light on the Protocols and the damage and suffering they have caused throughout history, as well as the negative impact they are having today.

The Institute added to the package an 8-page essay written by its director, Emmanuele Ottolenghi, about the Protocols, entitled “The lie that will not die.”

“It was meant to explain the importance of learning the truth about the Protocols due to their ongoing global nefarious influence, especially in the Middle East,” Ottolenghi, told European Jewish Press.

Last Tuesday, Ottolenghi received a letter from an official of the European Parliament’s Presidency services, saying that the EU body is not going to distribute the package “due to the nature of its content”.

Presented as the results of a secret meeting of Jewish leaders laying out 23 protocols for the supposed Jewish takeover of world governments, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" first appeared in Russia in 1905. Divided into three parts, "The Plot" begins as a kind graphical literary biography, tracing the life and influences of the real author of Protocols, Mathieu Golovinski. A seedy, low-level aristocrat, Golovinski distinguished himself with the Tsarist secret police as a lawyer with a talent for fabricating evidence against accused enemies of the state. Eventually exiled to France, he was tapped to produce a document that conservatives in the Tsarist court hoped would smear the nascent revolutionary movement as a Jewish conspiracy.

The refusal to distribute was based on the fact that the parliament don’t allow advertisement and that the book had no relevance with the parliament’s legislative agenda.

The letter added that this was “independent of the positive opinion each of us may have regarding the cause defended by the books”.

Ottolenghi has appealed the Parliament’s decision in a letter to Luxemburg MEP Astrid Lulling, a member of the “College of Quaestors”, the parliament’s body responsible for internal administrative matters, who took the decision.

“I appeal to you in the interest of truth to allow MEPs and their assistants to open the envelopes I sent them, read the material included and judge for themselves,” Ottolenghi said.

“Until today I didn’t received any answer,” he told EJP.

Decision reconsidered ?

Lulling was not available for any comment Thursday afternoon but according to a parliament official she might reconsider her decision next week at the European parliament monthly plenary session in Strasbourg.

Three months ago, the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, had personally ordered bookshops in the parliament in Brussels to remove from sales copies of a novel version in French of the “Protocols of Elders of Zion.”

“Why would the Protocols be easily available in the Parliament, but the refutation of the Protocols would not be allowed to reach MEPs?,” Ottolenghi asked.

MTV: Stupid "Spirit" Headline of the Year

'300' Scribe Frank Miller And Samuel L. Jackson Together: Smells Like Team 'Spirit'

Actor confirms exclusively to MTV News that he'll play villain in comics demigod's flick based on newspaper strip.

By Shawn Adler, with reporting by Larry Carroll

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — He reinvented Daredevil, breathed new life into the Dark Knight, took audiences down the mean streets of Sin City and, with "300," even managed to make historical fiction seem badass. But the biggest reinvention of Frank Miller's career may wind up being his own, when the comics demigod transforms himself into a big-budget director with "The Spirit," an adaptation of Will Eisner's eponymous newspaper strip.

"I'm flying solo," he said at Sunday's MTV Movie Awards (see "MTV Movie Awards Get Dirty: Baron Cohen, Ferrell Mash; Rihanna Sizzles; Silverman Says 'Bleep!' "). "It's a different kind of material [for me]."

It is and it isn't. The Spirit, a.k.a. Denny Colt, is a masked vigilante who, like Batman, fights crime with the blessing of the city's police. Unlike, say, "Sin City," however, "The Spirit" is known not just for its take on crime drama and film noir, but for genre-twisting forays into mystery, horror and romance.

While the end result may look unfamiliar, the process will be the same, Miller revealed, telling MTV News that he plans to shoot with the same green-screen technology he learned from Robert Rodriguez on "Sin City" (for which he was credited as a co-director) and from Zack Snyder on "300" (see " '300' Trivia: Albino Giants, Sequel Chances — And Sienna Miller")

"It will be similar [to 'Sin City' and '300'] in terms of using the expanding technology that was used in those movies [to visualize the comic world]," Miller said. "But I hope to take things a step further, of course."

And Samuel L. Jackson will be there to help Miller take that next step, the actor confirmed exclusively to MTV News on Friday (June 8).

When asked if his involvement as the flick's villain, Octopus, was a done deal, he said, "As far as I'm concerned it is. I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, I'm anxious to find out what [Miller] wants me to look like, how we want to do it and when we want to start."

Miller told MTV News at the Movie Awards that the badass actor was his top choice to play the bad guy. "I would love for Jackson to be the Octopus in the movie, the chief villain," he said.

Miller will begin lensing the flick sometime later this year.

"It's coming together really well — the script's all written, and we're going to get working on storyboarding and all the preproduction," he said, indicating that many of the shots in the movie will be taken directly from Eisner's comic panels. "I'm going to be doing a lot of [supplemental] drawing in the next few months."

[This story was originally published at 6:00 a.m. ET on 6.8.2007]

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER - Samuel L. Jackson is Frank Miller's Octopus!

By Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit

May 18, 2007
Samuel L. Jackson is in negotiations to star as a mysterious supervillain in the Frank Miller-helmed comic book adaptation "The Spirit" for Lionsgate and Odd Lot Entertainment.

The story centers on Denny Colt, an ambitious young cop murdered in the line of duty who under mysterious circumstances is reborn as the masked mystery man known as the Spirit.

Jackson would play the Spirit's nemesis, the Octopus, a meek lab assistant who reinvents himself as a psychotic nightmare that kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face. The Octopus' tentacles reach into every aspect of crime in fictitious Central City, a city he plans to wipe out.

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.

KEEP READING!

Here's a more personal reports from a Variety blogger in Cannes on the subject!

There is also a discussion of Jackson as The Octopus on Ain't It Cool News!