It says a lot about where genre properties have gone, commercially, that a video clip of Frank Miller talking about his upcoming film version of The Spirit is prominently displayed on the Hollywood Reporter‘s Cannes coverage page. There’s not a whole lot in the interview that die-hards don’t know — Eisner invented comics, great influence, new technology, yadda yadda — but if you feel like seeing a nattily dressed Miller saying all that stuff again, by all means go for it.
And while Miller talkes about how the technology Robert Rodriguez brought to bear on Sin City has enabled him to tackle this project, there’s no word on the actual look of the film. The Sin City-esque promo image might be representative of the final look (which would be a travesty) or it might just be a good way to tie the existing Sin City fanbase to this film.
The most pertinent info actually isn’t in the interview: the name of the actor who will play The Spirit. We know Samuel L Jackson is in Miller’s mind as the villain, but it sounds like Miller doesn’t even know who he wants to play the title hero. "I’m hoping to be very pleasantly surprised…it might be a long search, but you’ll know him as The Spirit and he will be The Spirit."
The actual interview can’t be linked directly, as it’s buried in a Flash player, but you can see it on the Reporter‘s main Cannes page, right here.