Thompson On Hollywood

Comic-Con Preview: Twilight's Hardwicke and Spirit's Miller

Comic-Con is coming at the end of the month, and two movies sure to make a splash at the San Diego convention center are Frank Miller's neo-noir The Spirit and Catherine Hardwicke's vampire romance Twilight. I interviewed both directors for my column: Miller says The Spirit is in color, not black and white, and that he colors with emotion. Hardwicke talks about auditioning Robert Pattinson to play the vampire Edward Cullen opposite Kristen Stewart's Bella--- on the bed of her Venice beach pad. Only with those two was there serious heat.

And here's the Comic-Con sked. UPDATE: And here's EW's cover story and backlash to their ultra-glam cover shoot, which alters the appearance of the actors from the movie.

Miller's The Spirit Looks Cool

Frank Miller has taken an interesting approach to the look of the movie version of Will Eisner's The Spirit. He's making it contemporary with a film noir/Sin City graphic feel, without going totally retro with the comics' original look. Here's some art from the pic.

Miller Blogs Spirit

Frank Miller of Dark Knight, Sin City and 300 fame is blogging about his directorial debut The Spirit. And there's a possibility he will direct a Buck Rogers movie, reports IGN.

300's Miller is Hot

Graphic novelist Frank Miller is on a roll. On some level, all those Batman movies were inspired by his Dark Knight comics. After the back-to-back successes of Sin City and 300, Sin City 2 is well on its way. And now, Warners has acquired Ronin, to be shot 300-style, reports Variety:

After turning the Frank Miller graphic novel "300" into a hit, Warner Bros. has optioned the rights to Miller's "Ronin" to adapt into a live-action feature. Sylvain White ("Stomp the Yard") will direct.

In the story, a ronin, or disgraced samurai warrior, bears the shame of allowing his master to be assassinated by a shape-shifting demon in 13th century Japan. When the master's sword is unearthed in mid-21st century New York, the ronin and the demon are brought to life and battle gangs of mutants and thugs to try to take possession of the mythical sword.

The graphic novel was published by DC Comics.