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Here's the teaser for The Spirit, Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's comic book, which screened at New York Comic-Con. 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. More on the Spirit panel after the jump.
Here's the teaser for The Spirit, Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's comic book, which screened at New York Comic-Con. 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. More on the Spirit panel after the jump.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.
The rest of the panel discussed in great detail the lengths the team went to work with Eisner's comic. Producer Deborah Del Prete mentioned that, 'the most important thing to Eisner was that he didn't want his Spirit to ever use a gun and that was something we always tried to protect."
The fans asked about Samuel L. Jackson's role as The Octopus especially since the only part of that character that shows in the comic was his white gloves. Miller defended his choice saying, "Jackon was my first and only choice for The Octopus." He continued that simply showing white gloves like in the comic book would get tedious so there will be full shots of Jackson.
It did seem like Miller always had Eisner in mind. Keep an eye out while watching the movie for Miller's own personal moment for Eisner, "My favorite shot in the movie is with Spirit moving across the top of a water tank he stumbles, just a bit, and I said, 'That one's for you Will.'"
Meanwhile, the movie's producer, Michael Usman, talked a bit about the process that led to the movie becoming a reality at the Eisner panel on Friday.
Usman had first met Eisner at a comic-book convention when he was a kid, and had been "thrilled to his toes." He'd met Eisner again at the Harvard Club fourteen years ago, and they'd decided then and there to make The Spirit film together. As part of attaining the rights, Usman swore that no one would be involved, and the movie would be left unmade, unless everyone attached "totally got it." One day, after mentioning that he had on his hands what he considered the single best and most groundbreaking comic work with future co-producer Deb Del Prete, she said, immediately, "Don't tell me you have the rights to The Spirit?!" Usman's reaction to finding a producing partner who similarly "got it" was relief and joy: "Mama, I'm home!"
Usman did his best to drive home the care with which The Spirit movie is being made, perhaps in an attempt to banish some fan fears that Frank Miller's aesthetic might come to overwhelm Eisner's. He related that Eisner himself had had "no interest whatsoever" in either directing or writing a Spirit flick himself, but that in the painstaking fourteen years of plotting for the feature, they had been able to put all their questions to him — and get his input and feedback on their own decisions, until his death in 2005.
The Eisner panel was full of praise for the joint role that Eisner had mastered in the medium — succeeding as both a businessman and a creative talent. DC Comics publisher Paul Levitz pointed out that while art and business often exist in inherent conflict, Eisner negotiated his own contracts and recognized the need to have rights and full control over one's creations very early in the game. As such, he has long been seen as a trailblazing figure.
In response to the question of whether Eisner had created the studio system of producing comics, Jack Kirby biographer Mark Evanier paused, but agreed, "I would argue that." Eisner and Kirby, he said, had reinvented the medium — broken it out of the old panel-a-day rhythm, made it so that comic books were being made, not just tiny strips.
Additional reporting by Kaila Hale-Stern.
Comments
'I tried to translate [Eisner's] vision into a Sin City Sequel.'
FTFY, Frank.
I'm digging the music, but that's about it.
Nice article here, Meredith, good job.
Hey, this might actually be pretty darn cool. At first glance I questioned the B&W look of this teaser, bright primary colors would be more faithful to the original but that would bring far too many comparisons to the Dick Tracy movie. It already looks too much like "Sin City" but that's inevitable and I for one really dug that whole neo-noir thingy. The crazy angles, movement, and graphic tricks feel true to Eisner's work. I mean for Grodd's sake, the last shot has Denny Colt perched on top of his own logo [insert squee here]! Don't know this Gabriel Macht chap at all and not convinced that Dan Lauria IS Commissioner Dolan but am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. This little glimpse is all about the Dark'n'Gritty and looks coool--I hope they've retained Eisner's wonderful humor as well.
Fingers now officially crossed.
looks more like a sin city sequel to me,
good music.
Once again Frank Miller takes a known property and remakes it into his own image, It seems pretty clear that Frank Miller has no interest in making The Spirit but merely in making Sin City 2, further proven by that fact that Will Eisners name doesnt appear untill halfway into the trailer.
I am not even a fan of The Spirit comic, i just hate Frank Miller being unable to step away from doing the same crap over and over
@arolex: @Tiwa: Come on that music wasn't even that good, you're just trying to pull anything worthwhile from that.
That thing looked like test footage from Sin City. Miller created some of his best work with the Sin City comics, it was new, it was different, it was layered and complex like his best work, and it was flashy. However it seems that with the Sin City movie and now this, flash is all that gets through. I'll wait to see a little more, but the amaturish greenscreen effects leave a little to be desired.
The best Frank Miller style motion piece I ever saw was a damn NASCAR commercial and the one of the coolest Batman TAS episode
[www.psyop.tv]
+ Watch video
And The Spirit in Chuck Taylors? If you want to make a Dwight movie, make a Dwight movie.
Ugh. It looks like a montage of rip-offs from other works.
1) Someone said they liked the music. It's Ennio Morricone's classic score from "The Untouchables." Sure, that's just for the trailer, but don't get worked up by it like it has anything to do with this movie.
2) Someone mentioned "Dick Tracy." Why the hell does this trailer use "I'm on my way" as a catchphrase, when that was the catchphrase of the "Dick Tracy" movie? Lazy crap.
3) The opening shot of the trailer looks like it's cribbed from any number of Dr. Strange comics. The pattern of that window light and shade is the same as that in Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum.
4) The Spirit's face is covered in shadow for the entire trailer. Maybe that's a gimmick to keep the mystery of who is playing him, but it doesn't remind me of Eisner.
5) The dialogue is pure Frank Miller recycled pseudo film-noir crapola. "The city is my lover." Don't look now, Spirit, but your lover is two-timing you with upwards of several hundred thousand other dudes. Ouch.
6) The shot of him perched on his own logo is shot so close-up you can't tell what he's standing on. In an Eisner comic it would be shot way back. That stuff doesn't work in close-up; it's a comic book full-page composition technique.
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: The Shumacher jokes at the beginning of that episode are hilarious!
Oh yeah... And another thing.. This is soooooo not sci-fi. I don't even know how you can justify its presence here. Unless of course you're willing to admit that you have broadened the scope of the site... Just sayin.
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome:
The Spirit went into outer space. Once.
That's how!
Not too fired up by this myself, but I'm not going to use the crybaby "sin city" bullshit line, since I don't see how it could have been done visually any other way.
But yeah, not much Eisner happenin' here.
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: I'm a sucker for the harp, man.
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: It's scifi in the same way that Batman is scifi. Or most other comic book stuff... to be honest, I haven't read much of the Spirit, but doesn't his origin involve being put into suspended animation by a mad scientist? And then when he wakes up, everybody thinks he's dead... hence, the Spirit. Or is that wrong?
@Charlie Jane Anders: Yup, that's the origin.
Say what you want, that small minute clip looked pretty good for such a low quality video.
The music is not from or for the film. It is the theme from the film version of 'The Untouchables'.
The music on teasers are rarely from the films in question...
The score isn't really going to get written until the film is almost done.
@Plague: Crybaby?! Listen you. Don't get fresh with me.
@Oasx: Exactly and then some.
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome:
really? what is your definition of sci-fi?
@icarusprime: Using logical (although occasionally extreme) extentions of hard, natural, and/or social sciences to explore themes of humanity and interpersonal connections in a fantastical manner.
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: is "The Spirit" science fiction? Well it had (just off the top of my head) mad scientists, diabolical weapons of mass destruction, Wonder drugs or formulae with bizzare effects, time travel, space flight, extreme longevity,and musings of extraterrestrial life. Eisner used all these with two-fisted action, slapstick humor, and Hawt Femme Fatales/ Good Girls to explore pressing societal issues and the Human Condition.
Just sayin'.
This looks great. Can't wait to see it.
I find it odd that just because the movie takes a very graphic, stylized approach to the special effects, everyone jumps all over it for "copying" Sin City.
We have like a thousand photoreal vfx circle jerks a year and no one complains, but god forbid there's two films in 10 years that actually try to do something a little different with their look.
I wish more films would step away from the obsession with photoreal and at least attempt to do something new and interesting with the amazing cg tools that are now available.
This is one area where advertising and music videos are way ahead of the movie industry in terms of being willing to experiment.
@courtstreet: Is it really an experiment if Miller has done it before?
Is it me, or does the Spirit sound like Batman: TAS?
Looks OK, but then I'd expect pretty much any 30 second trailer to look entertaining. It's the 5,370 I'm worried about.
Let me get this straight.
So when Frank Miller develops a distinctive style that influences all his work, he is not being true to his source.
But when Tim Burton makes a career out of doing the exact same thing, we call him a genius.
I guess you all preferred Batman Returns to All-Star Batman & Robin.
"I'm the god damn Spirit."
@thecurse: I have never once called Tim Burton a genius.
"Is it really an experiment if Miller has done it before?"
Yes. He is continuing to work in an experimental style of filmmaking.
You've got an odd definition of experimental - a definition that would basically exclude every innovative filmmaker in history after his first film.
@courtstreet: The style worked so well with Sin City because it looked JUST LIKE the comic books, and it would be fine for Sin City 2 because the art style of the books stayed consistent.
The fact that he is taking that style and seems to be using it on a property that looks nothing like Sin City on the page, and adding his hackneyed dialog style, doesn't seem all that innovative to me.
@Grey_Area:
thank you.
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