I was wondering what happened to this project. Frank Miller's Ronin was optioned last spring in the glory days of 300's massive box office. And then it faded away after talk of filming it against a blue screen a'la Zack Snyder.

Perhaps realizing that Miller was never actually going to write a sequel to 300 (despite the continued hopes of Mark Canton), Warner Bros has finally revived the project and hired a writer -- The Hollywood Reporter says it is Joby Harold, the man behind the script and camera for Jessica Alba's Awake. Sylvain White is still attached to direct.

Ronin is a series about a masterless samurai who is reincarnated in New York City, sometime in the near future. Of course, New York is a bleak and lawless society -- and in the midst of it, the reincarnated samurai is forced to confront the demon who assassinated his master centuries before. It is one of Miller's earliest works, and arguably the one that he really honed his skills on. Someday, they'll call this his "samurai period." (I wonder if we will ever see his samurai Wolverine on film?)

Darren Aronofsky was once attached to adapt and direct it -- obviously, it fell through, and I can't find any reason as to why. He never seems to hold on to the Miller projects, which is a shame. I can't say that the combination of White and Harold fill me with confidence, particularly after a director like Aronofsky. I guess we'll wait and see.

Details are pretty slim at this point, but it looks like Warner Bros. (elated and loaded after what 300 did at the box office) has just locked up the rights to another well regarded Frank Miller property. The studio has hired director Sylvain White to helm a movie version of Miller's "Ronin," which is the story of a bona-fide samurai who prowls the streets of 2064 searching for evildoers and battling a magical sword-wielding demon. Sounds pretty good to me...

...only ... Sylvain White? Really? The guy who made Stomp the Yard, Trois 3: The Escort and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer? Really? OK, I guess the WB executives know something that I don't. (Well, something beyond the fact that Sylvain White won't cost as much as an established action director.) Not trying to savage the guy, but ... really? From Stomp the Yard to an action-packed Frank Miller adaptation? OK then.

Odds are we'll also have to contend with a title change, since "Ronin" is already fairly well-known as a John Frankenheimer crime thriller that stars Robert De Niro. My recommendations are: I'll Always Know Who You Decapitated in the Future, Trois 4: The Swordening and Slash the Neck.

In spite of the casting uncertainty and production rumors surrounding Sin City 2, there doesn't appear to be a shortage of Frank Miller material headed to the big screen. The opening date of 300 is looming closer, and now IESB has posted the news of the latest Miller graphic novel to be chosen for a film adaptation. 300 producer Gianni Nunnari has confirmed that he is already planning his next project -- an adaptation of Miller's Ronin. Ronin is the story of a dishonored 13th century samurai existing in an apocalyptic New York packed with mutants, cannibals, and a reincarnated demon while on a quest for redemption. The story has a little bit of everything; Miller himself has described it as "a superhero, science fiction, samurai drama, urban nightmare, gothic romance."

On board to direct this delicate balance of a movie is the unlikely choice of Sylvian White, whose most memorable credit so far is the teen dance drama Stomp The Yard. In a recent interview with White about the project, he answered the question foremost in the mind of fans -- are they sticking to the original story? White admits that some cuts will be made, saying, "Ronin is very dense and very long, so of course we are going to have to streamline the story to fit it within a movie time frame. " Sin City definitely raised the bar when it comes to comic book films, so hopefully White can keep up.