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Thursday, October 29
Film adaptations of comic book visionary Frank Miller's 300 and Sin City graphic novels have generated more than $280 million at the box office, so it's not surprising that more of Miller's ideas will be coming to the big screen soon.
Back in June, director Zack Snyder announced his interest in making a sequel or prequel to 300, and in September actor Clive Owen, who played Dwight in Sin City, announced that a sequel to Sin City might be in the works. Also in September, it was announced that Sylvain White might be directing a 3-D adaptation of Miller's Roningraphic novel.
Now, there's confirmation from producer Stephen L'Heureux of Solipsist Films that production on Sin City 2 will begin in late 2010 from an original script by Miller, who will co-direct with Robert Rodriguez. In a recent interview with Mania, L'Heureux also announced that another of Miller's graphic novels, Hard Boiled, is being developed for the screen.
We got the project in turnaround from Warner Bros and Frank. It's such a pleasure to work with someone like Frank Miller. He's so smart and passionate about story at all levels from 1940s noir pulp to modern film.
Miller is expected to direct Hard Boiled, but L'Heureax said that it would have to wait until after Sin City 2.
With Sin City [2] just on the horizon, I don't think we'd be able to do it with Frank right away. As simple as Sin City [2] seems, it's a very complex scheduling with all these actors and it's a very demanding shoot to be on a sound stage all day long. We have to space it for Frank. There's also talk, of course, of Sin City 3.
Posted 10/29/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Clive Owen | Sin City | Frank Miller | 300 | Sin City 2 | Zack Snyder | Sin City 3 | Stephen L'Heureux
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Saturday, October 10
Comic book visionary and sometimes film director Frank Miller is the creative force behind both 300 and Sin City, two of the most innovative movies of the past decade. Both films were based on Miller's Dark Horse Comics graphic novels, and both are currently the subject of speculation regarding possible sequels.
Zack Snyder, director of the first 300, has said that he's ready to get started on a sequel — or prequel — as soon as Miller has completed work on the graphic novel that will serve as the basis for the film. And, actor Clive Owen, recently dropped the news that a "good source" has told him the Sin City sequel could begin filming as early as next year.
Actor Gerard Butler gave a commanding performance as King Leonidas in 300, so it would be hard to imagine another round of Spartan mayhem that didn't include him. In a recent interview with MTV, Butler said that he would consider reprising the role, but that he didn't feel a sequel was necessary.
I had an incredible time doing the first one and I think if the first one was just a stand-alone as a one-off, there's no bad thing in that.
Butler went on to say that he could see himself working with Miller again, possibly on a sequel to Sin City.
You know, graphic novels are things that I wouldn't do a lot of so I would have to really choose carefully before I did. I mean, at one point, [Miller] talked to me about one of the [Sin City Sequels] and we discussed that. There's a kind of cool character, I think in the third one.
Butler is currently starring in F. Gary Gray's Law Abiding Citizen opposite Jamie Foxx.
Next Showing: Law Abiding Citizen opens October 16
Posted 10/10/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Sin City | Frank Miller | 300 | Sin City 2 | Gerard Butler | Sin City 3 | Law Abiding Citizen
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Tuesday, September 29
Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City line of graphic novels was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film, and fans have been clamoring for a sequel since the first one debuted four years ago.
Just when it started to appear doubtful that a sequel would ever be made, Clive Owen, who starred in the first one as Dwight, said last week that "a very good souce" told him that production could begin next year. Then a few days later, actor Danny Trejo told Punch Drunk Critics there are no concrete plans for a sequel.
It's kind of in the works ... we're going to do Predator[s] next. So, Sin City [2] is kind of like a, you know, a thought process. We'll be doing Predator[s] in about a month.
It's unclear what involvement in the Sin City 2 sequel Trejo will have, if any, but he's appeared in a number of director Robert Rodriguez's films in the past so an acting role in SC2 is not unlikely. Most recently, Trejo wrapped filming on Machete, an "expoitation film" based on the fake trailer that appeared in Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's Grindhouse. According to Trejo, Machete, scheduled to open in 2010, will be "pretty true to the trailer" in theme and tone.
Posted 9/29/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Clive Owen | Danny Trejo | Robert Rodriguez | Sin City | Sin City 2 | Machete
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Thursday, September 24
Director Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of comic creator Frank Miller's Sin City line of graphic novels may have been snubbed by the Academy, but it won 16 other critical awards, including the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and earned nearly $159 million at the box office, making it a prime candidate for a sequel. However, since its release in 2005, there's been nothing more than talk of that happening.
Back in 2006, Rosario Dawson, who played Gail in Sin City, said that Rodriguez was considering casting Angelina Jolie in the lead role in Sin City 2, which was rumored to be an adaptation of Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For graphic novel. Subsequent rumors had both Salma Hayek and Rodriguez's then-girlfriend Rose McGowan competing for the role. Then, it appeared Rodriguez was side-lining Sin City 2 in favor of an update of Barbarella. Another rumor had the Weinsteins losing the rights to produce a Sin City sequel, a rumor which was squelched by their attorney in April, when he said their rights "remain intact."
Just when it was beginning to look like a sequel would never happen, actor Clive Owen gave Sin City fans a little hope. In a recent interview with MTV, Owen said that production on Sin City could begin sooner than anyone thought.
I'm hearing it might be next year, yes. I'm hearing it might be next year. I heard that from a very good source, recently, yeah.
While Owen wouldn't say who the "good source" was, he hinted that it could have been either Miller or Rodriguez, and said that he would be interested in reprising the role of Dwight.
I had a great time on the first one. Great time. Robert Rodriguez was a joy. It was a stunning film. I think it was an absolutely extraordinary achievement, what he did with that film. It's unlike ... it was a genuinely original movie.
Posted 9/24/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Clive Owen | Rosario Dawson | Robert Rodriguez | Sin City | Frank Miller | Sin City 2
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Monday, September 14
Frank Miller has been a legend in comic book circles for decades, but he didn't become a household name until the successful film adaptations of his works Sin City and 300.
Despite his failed attempt to pay homage to Will Eisner's The Spirit, Miller's ideas are still considered fertile ground for feature films. Both Sin City 2 and a prequel to 300 are planned, as is an adaptation of his 1983 cyberpunk graphic novel, Ronin — not to be confused with the Robert Deniro movie of the same name.
Director Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) is attached to direct Ronin. Currently, White is filming The Losers, another comic book adaptation. He recently told SuperHeroHype.com that a script for Ronin is "still being developed" but could be coming to theaters in 3-D.
I just got a new draft a week ago. It's looking really good and promising. I hope it gets to go.... [Mine is] a big-budget, big blockbuster take on it. I'd love to do it in 3D. I think it'd be ridiculous and amazing.
Miller's story is a time-spanning tale of a "ronin" — a masterless samurai — who mystically finds himself transported from the 13th Century to the 21st Century, where he has to contend with the reincarnation of Agat, the demon who slew his master. White said that, although Ronin is a "great concept," it would take some work to translate it into movie form.
Frank Miller is a genius when it comes to that. It took so long because the source material is so complex. It's very difficult, and it's not linear, and it doesn't really fit into a film format off the bat.
You need a little bit of streamlining, but the story and the characters, if I get to do that movie, will all be there. I'm the guy who wants to respect the authors and the source material as a fan of graphic novels who grew up reading them whether it be in Europe or here. It's something that needs to be done right, and it hasn't really been done right.
Posted 9/14/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Sin City | Frank Miller | 300
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Saturday, September 5
Actor Elijah Wood is the rare example of a child actor who's made the transition into adulthood relatively unscathed by the ravages of Hollywood. After a part in Back to the Future Part II at the tender young age of eight, Wood went on to star in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy, forever becoming identified with Hobbits. Wood is still questioned about the role, even more so now that production on Guillermo del Toro's LOTR prequel, The Hobbit, is underway.
In a recent interview to promote his new movie, 9, Wood was asked who he thinks would make a great choice to play Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.
That's a tough one. I think Ian Holm really set a high bar for that performance. He really did an extraordinary job, and he really made it his own. There's a lot of quirkiness to that character. It's not the easiest character to play. One couldn't really do it straightforward — there's some odd quirks to him. So it'll be interesting to see who they get. Nobody really comes to mind. They've mentioned a few people so far. James McAvoy is great. I think he could be interesting.
Wood is no stranger to voice acting, having lent his pipes to Mumble in the smash animated feature Happy Feet, so he was right at home in the sound booth for 9, in which he plays the lead role of #9. Interestingly, there are superficial similarities between 9 and The Lord of the Rings that have not escaped Wood's notice.
I just loved that world that [director Shane Acker] created, and I loved the idea of being a part of it and then ultimately the idea of being a part of something that would flesh that out. Taking into consideration the journey that they all took, certainly there were similarities [between 9 and LOTR], but I definitely liked the characters and I think the character of 9 was interesting. They've already established a community, and he comes in with all these questions about who they are and what they are and that we need to get to the bottom of what these machines are about and what does this talisman do. They've all stopped asking those questions. I really liked that about him — that he shakes them loose a little bit to get at who they are and get at solving the dangers that face them.
Of course, one would naturally assume that Wood's favorite role would be portraying the Hobbit that made him a mega-star, but Wood admits to favoring the dark character of Kevin from Frank Miller's Sin City.
Sin City was a pretty awesome role to play. Getting a chance to play a character like [Kevin], and also being a fan of the graphic novel, it was a real treat — not something that comes around often. So that's definitely one of my favorites.
9 also features the voice talents of Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, and Jennifer Connelly.
Next Showing: 9 opens September 9
Posted 9/5/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Sin City | Elijah Wood | The Hobbit | 9 | Shane Acker
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Tuesday, June 9
Most of what has leaked about Gamer so far is admittedly not very funny. Where's the humor in be manipulated in combat to the death by some master computer geek? But there is a lighter side to this dystopian tale of future gaming, John Leguizamo tells Sci Fi Wire. Leguizamo, who plays the character Freek in the movie, says he is there primarily to provide some comic relief:
I'm like a Renfield in the Dracula story, that crazy guy who's locked up in an insane asylum ... I'm in there; I have all this information, and I'm in the prison. I'm in the game.
In the game, but not involved in the butt-kicking so much. That, he says, he is leaving up to Gerard Butler, who plays Kable, the cyber-gladiator at the center of the action.
Posted 6/9/2009 by Rich Z
Related: Robert Rodriguez | Sin City | Fanboys | Sin City 2 | Planet Terror | Shorts | Predators | The Jetsons | Adam F. Goldberg
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Friday, April 10
Four years have gone by since audiences were shocked and thrilled by director Robert Rodriguez's stylized adaptation of Frank Miller's collection of Sin City graphic novels. Rodriguez has been busy since then, producing Grindhouse with Quentin Tarantino and directing the Grindhouse segment Planet Terror. So, when will we see Sin City 2?
According to IMDB, Sin City 2 is in pre-production, but IESB reported on Tuesday that the Weinstein Company had lost the rights to produce the film and the subsequent follow-up, Sin City 3. Apparently, the IESB report was erroneous, as Weinstein Co. lawyer Bert Fields commented to EW:
TWC's rights to produce sequels to Sin City remain intact as they always have been. Any suggestion to the contrary is complete hogwash.
Sin City grossed over $150 million worldwide and received critical acclaim for its innovative film techniques, including a Technical Grand Prize award at Cannes.
Posted 4/10/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Robert Rodriguez | Sin City | Sin City 2 | Planet Terror
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Sunday, June 22
Actress Rosario Dawson is here at Cinevegas promoting her upcoming movie, Explicit Ills, and being honored by the film festival. We caught up with her on the red carpet to see if she'd heard anything from Robert Rodriguez or Frank Miller on the highly anticipated sequel to Sin City, Sin City 2.
"Yes, it's not happening yet," she told us. "I think there's a lot of want for it to happen, but it's kind of an issue of films right now are a little difficult to be getting made so it depends on the success of other ones that are out, I imagine."
Dawson says fans can help, though. "Just keep putting the word out right now that we want it to happen."
In the meantime, she is still keeping busy with two high profile movies coming out later this year -- Eagle Eye with Shia LaBeouf and Seven Pounds with Will Smith, in which she said she plays a woman dying of congenital heart disease.
The actress is also dabbling into creating her own comic book, The Occult Crimes Task Force, with family friend David Atchison. "[He] developed the actual original story and always had me in mind for the lead character and kind of wrote her around me," she explained. "When he got an artist involved and he could develop it a bit more, he brought it to me and asked if it was something I was interested in being a part of."
While the two have sold The Occult Crimes Task Force, they are contemplating taking it in a different direction, possibly as a webisode, Dawson said.
Posted 6/22/2008 by reelz
Related: Rosario Dawson | Sin City | Sin City 2
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Thursday, April 5
Tom's review of Grindhouse is now live on the site and, as of yet, it's certainly not the popular opinion. The reviews are looking pretty strong so far, but you have to wonder who's doing the praising? Rottentomatoes shows an 87 % so far, but... I have a question. Would anyone give a !%# about this movie if it were directed by anyone other than fanboy figureheads Tarantino and Rodriguez?
I didn't like the movie, as I expressed the other day. Now, before you call me a naysayer, understand that I loved Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Sin City, El Mariachi, etc. I was really looking forward to this movie. Unfortunately, Grindhouse just a BIG FAT LETDOWN.
Next Showing: Grindhouse opens nationwide on April 6th
Posted 4/5/2007 by reelz
Related: Quentin Tarantino | Robert Rodriguez | Sin City | Pulp Fiction | Planet Terror