Exclusive: Frank Miller's New Spirit Blog!

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Exclusive: Frank Miller's New Spirit Blog!

Source:Lionsgate

May 30, 2008

The Spirit writer/director Frank Miller has been posting really interesting entries on the official Blog for The Spirit since production began. Today, Superhero Hype! can give you an exclusive first look at at the 9th entry, in which he addresses the fans' concerns!

The action-adventure-romance, opening December 25, stars Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Paz Vega, Jaime King, Dan Lauria, Stana Katic, Johnny Simmons and Louis Lombardi.

Based on the Will Eisner comic book series, The Spirit is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Jackson) has a different mission: he's going to wipe out Spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality.

THE SPIRIT Blog #9

TO MY READERS

Much has been the fuss in the comics' blogosphere about my SPIRIT movie—much justified, much hoped for, and much to my delight, that there has been a fuss at all. Some comics readers are terrified that THE SPIRIT will be a retread of my SIN CITY. Others quarrel over the change of the SPIRIT'S traditional blue hat, mask, and jacket, to black. These are understandable concerns for any lover of Will Eisner's masterpiece. I take this opportunity to address these concerns. With glee, I take this opportunity.

THE SPIRIT is, with every effort I give it, not a rusty, dusty old monument to the work of my beloved Mentor, so much as it is an extension of what I know to have been Eisner's central intent: to create something new, witty, and exploratory. That's what he did. That's what I'm doing.

It only resembles SIN CITY in that I am its director, and, well, yes, I have my ways and my proclivities. Luckily, I was able to discern three important proclivities I share with the Master. We both love good stories. We both love New York City. And we both love beautiful women.

(Please forgive my constant present-tense references to my dear friend. His creative force, and his force of personality, remains so strong in my mind that I can't often think of Will Eisner as a man who has left us.)

Now, about that blue suit.

Comic books have long traditions based on the limitations of pre-digital printing. Among these are traditions from the old newsprint-run-through-letterpress approach (yes, comics have been—and still do--follow tradition that dates all the way back to Gutenberg!). Bad printing on pulp paper is why it was necessary for every superhero to have his emblem printed on his chest, and that everything that's black be printed in blue. Hence Superman's preposterous blue hair. And the Spirit's blue hat, mask, and suit.

In tests—and we did several—the blue made the Spirit look like an unfortunate guest at a Halloween party. Going to black brings back his essential mystery, his Zorro-like sexiness. It also makes that red tie of his look very, very cool. So I made the call, with all respect to Eisner's creation, and most importantly, to what I perceived as his underlying intention. It was an easy call for me to make. The Spirit dresses in black, and looks much the better for it. As I said, my desire was never to slavishly follow the rules of '40s printing into campy oblivion, but to reintroduce Eisner's creation, via modern technology, to our brave new world.

And THE SPIRIT as some sort of SIN CITY REDUX? No, SIN CITY, that one's my own baby, folks, and it looks the way it does for its own reasons. THE SPIRIT is, and will always be, Eisner's SPIRIT. Anybody watching me on the set could attest that I very frequently drew a storyboard for a given shot first as I saw it, then as Will might’ve seen in—and, in every case, went with what I saw as Will's version.

To drive the point home, THE SPIRIT, despite any accidental impression left by that kickass teaser-trailer, is a full-color movie. SIN CITY—and I hope to make of it a movie trilogy all its own, come Hell and high water—is, visually, a playhouse for black and white.

THE SPIRIT's been one hell of an adventure, one that's made me love the world of comics more than ever.

I'm confident that it's going to be one hell of a good movie.

FM

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Posted by: lamplighter on May 30, 2008 at 12:45:12

Sounds legit to me. Miller rocks.

Posted by: GROTTESCO on May 30, 2008 at 12:51:02

I agree, I think he is not aiming to do the same thing in sin city, he can't, and I think the teaser does kick ass.

Posted by: spideyellis on May 30, 2008 at 12:51:25

2nd
comic book fans owe so much to miller

Posted by: Rabbit on May 30, 2008 at 12:51:55

F@#K the haters, Miller rules.

Posted by: Agent Graves on May 30, 2008 at 12:54:42

Oh, So the film is in color. that's neat. And you know when I heard all the *****ing bout the suit I knew that was the deal. back in the days it was blue because of the printing press. and Just as Miller pointed out - Superman's Blue hair. and Batman's suit. Yeah I get it. and I love it. LETS MARCH ON TO SEE THIS FILM ALREADY!!!

and I must say, That I am relaxed now to know that the film will be in color.

Posted by: Scot Evil on May 30, 2008 at 12:55:12

To all the doubters, whiners, and complainey twins (Corey and Trevor), I'd like to be the first to say "I told you so."

Posted by: speedracer216 on May 30, 2008 at 12:55:24

so basically,
i'm the filmmaker, I make the film. fair enough. just don't expect us to like it.

good bit at the end though about storyboards "how eisner would see it" and to verify that the movie is in color at least.

Posted by: jOe RamonE on May 30, 2008 at 12:58:39

well done Miller!!!!!

Posted by: Darknightwatchmen on May 30, 2008 at 12:58:59

I
CAN
NOT
WAIT
TO
SEE
THIS
FILM
...
PERIOD

& if I ever doubted you Frank, y'know...

Posted by: Film noir´s on May 30, 2008 at 13:03:38

good for Miller, or as said a director of international cinema, "a filmmaker must do something he likes, as a good independent filmmaker" (and as is done all over the world, at least hollywood)

Posted by: Reed on May 30, 2008 at 13:16:54

I really hope that shut up the mouths of so many complainers out there about Frank Miller. I never doubted him for a second and neither should anyone else.

Posted by: radiofriendlybox on May 30, 2008 at 13:22:29

the way i see it, reusing similar filming techniques that were employed in "sin city" for this movie really does a disservice to "the spirit" as a film. at the time of "sin city", the look and feel of the flim were somewhat novel (last done with 2004's "sky captain and the world of tomorrow" among others). the problem here is that the look and feel of "sin city" is so much *of* the movie that it becomes inextricably linked. it actually becomes an element of the story much like tarantino's fractured narrative in "pulp fiction" or nolan's reverse timeline in "memento". to reuse such conventions invites comparison. that in itself is not a bad thing, but you still get the been-there-done-that feeling (just read all the hoopla the new "g.i. joe" uniforms to get a better idea). i'm sure "the spirit" will still be visually and narratively stunning, but ideally a different approach might have put it into a category of its own.

Posted by: Dimelo NY on May 30, 2008 at 13:47:38

Miller hated when others f'd up his work, why would he do it to Will Eisner's. He's gonna deliever.

Posted by: Chris .R. Notarile on May 30, 2008 at 13:57:06

There is nothing wrong with Frank using the techniques he employed for Sin City. I mean, he was given the Spirit basically for that reason. We as fans should have known going into this that the Spirit would have a visual through back to the style of Sin City. For Christ's sake, it's Frank Miller. Duh. Look at 300, wasn't even on set for most of that movie and it looks like he directed it. Anyone who is complaining about Frank Miller taking on the Spirit has to understand two things. 1. He and Will did have such a wonderful friendship, and by being so close, it is only natural for Miller to want to do Will justice. Plus he already has the clout to. And 2. Frank has a style all to his own. And no matter what medium, whether it be pen and paper or film, it will always have that certain look to it. So there is no need to complain, the studio wanted the Frank Miller look, we as fans should have already seen this coming and not be surprised. I for one am happy and look forward to this film. I like Frank's style and think it's refreshing.

Posted by: Black & Blue Man on May 30, 2008 at 14:21:57

Did I read that right? The movie will be in full color? If so, cool! I, too, look forward to this movie. The Spirit as a character and a comic is wonderful. I'm truly hoping what comes through when all is said and done, is just how great Will E. was/is. :)

Posted by: FanBoiiiii on May 30, 2008 at 14:53:00

Frank Miller's, what a guy! Treats us fans so well and forgivingly. This dude rules.

Posted by: Batfan86 on May 30, 2008 at 14:53:30

Miller is still a hack.

Posted by: Adam West on May 30, 2008 at 14:54:33

Big props for Miller respecting fans enough to come out and justify why certain creative decisions went through.

Posted by: radiofriendlybox on May 30, 2008 at 15:03:15

there's nothing obstensibly wrong with frank's style. i myself like it very much. but what makes frank a good director is how he frames his shots to tell the story. what i don't believe is that an argument can be made that this particular type of stylization is his. as with the "300" example: he wasn't on set for most of it, and yet it still looks like his film. what i'm suggesting is that this stylization is a convention much like slow-motion gunfights are a convention (e.g., "the matrix", "underworld", "wanted") that many directors have used before. is there something wrong with reusing tried and true conventions? not in particular. i just think in this case that it has less impact, especially coming off the heels of "sin city" and "300". on that note, i think "hellboy 2" suffers similarly in relation to the release of "pan's labyrinth".

Posted by: 'Superheroine' on May 30, 2008 at 15:05:16

Well this is impressive, i have to say this seems as though it will be great, amazing timing as well. Bringing out a film titled 'Spirit' and being released on Xmas day!
The one thing i am curious about is that Samuel L. Jackson is playing the evil character 'Octopus.' In which Spirit is in the region of DC comics (Launched in 2006)
Samuel L Jackson is also playing the character Nick Fury (Part of shield) in 'Iron Man'
I dont know whether anyone else agrees but i think over lapping this one actor to play for DC and Marvel is slightly insulting.
Personally i would have loved to have seen Laurance Fisburne be the character 'Octopus' in the film 'Spirit' But this is my personal oppinion.
P.s Not insulting Samuel L Jackson as he is a great actor! Just think Laurence Fishburne would have been more appropriate. :)

Posted by: 'Superheroine' on May 30, 2008 at 15:05:57

P.p.s
MILLER=LEGEND!

Posted by: jake on May 30, 2008 at 15:21:28

okay guys, miller explained all of your compaints. and miller confirmed the spirit IS in FULL COLOR. will you still listen? i doubt it.

Posted by: tsfogg on May 30, 2008 at 15:21:55

This makes me feel a lot better! I was excited to see it, but when I saw the teaser (as kick-@$$ as it was), it put some trepidation in me because it looked VERY similar, if not identical to, Sin City. And as big of a fan of Sin City I am, The Spirit is not Sin City, nor should he be transposed there.

Bring on the full trailer!

Posted by: thejon93 on May 30, 2008 at 15:34:17

I think that the black and white parts of the film will only go down at night, in the day, it'll be in colour. I think so because all the teaser showed was The Spirit at night. I'm sure in the trailer, we'll see the day aspects of the film.

Posted by: Big D on May 30, 2008 at 16:01:41

I'm glad to hear that. I was never too worried about the color of his suit or anything and I was pissed off about people claiming it was gonna be just like Sin City based on a couple posters, but I have to admit when I saw that teaser trailer, as cool as it was I thought, damn, maybe this is gonna be a Sin City rehash, glad to hear I was wrong.

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