Frank Miller's The Spirit just took a turn for the bizarre. The full trailer is up at Film School Rejects, at least for now (the teaser is here, permanently), and it makes the movie look downright avant-garde. The accompanying Rejects blog post calls the look and feel of the film "forced," and I have to agree, even as I recognize that it's not fair to make such a judgment from a promotional clip. But then the post also badmouths Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, at which point it lost me.

Anyhow, my fear is that The Spirit will prize style to the exclusion of a story that can be taken seriously -- something both Sin City and Sky Captain avoided doing. There really aren't any words for the costumes Samuel L. Jackson wears in the second half of the trailer, and I can't imagine I'll be able to watch him in the movie without giggling. On the other hand, misguided complaints about 300 not withstanding, I can't imagine Frank Miller ever generating anything to be giggled at.

Can anyone who's familiar with the source material -- a comic book not by Frank Miller, but by Will Eisner -- shed any light on what's going on in that trailer?

Another new (and improved, in my opinion) image of Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus in The Spirit has been revealed, courtesy of Comic Con Magazine (click image to enlarge). Directed by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300), and based on the graphic novel by Will Eisner, The Spirit follows rookie cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) who returns from the dead to fight crime in Central City. Jackson plays The Octopus, The Spirit's main nemesis -- a villain who plans to wipe out all of Central City and kills anyone unlucky enough to see his face. (That said, I guess we're all doomed -- damn you Comic Con magazine for showing us this dude's face!)

Also starring in the flick are Scarlett Johansson (as the Octopus' secretary, Silken Floss), Eva Mendes (as Sand Saref), Jaime King (as Lorelei Rox) and Paz Vega (as Plaster of Paris). Gotta love the names in this one. If I may recommend myself for the sequel; I could play Dynamo Clorox III. Sweet! The first trailer for The Spirit was released during New York Comic Con, and I'm sure the cast and crew will have plenty of goodies for the folks attending San Diego Comic Con in July.

The Spirit arrives in theaters on December 25 (Happy Birthday Jesus, indeed!). Check out our gallery below.



[via Coming Soon]

Remember how for the longest time whenever anyone talked about Samuel L. Jackson it was usually followed by the description of Jackson as one of the hardest working actors in the business? Well, it is not like he didn't earn that reputation -- Jackson currently has one film already headed to theaters and three other films in production. Variety reports that Jackson will add the spy thriller Unthinkable to the pile.

Gregor Jordan (The Informers) has already signed to direct the story of a "major threat to the United States when the locations of three nuclear devices are shrouded in secrecy by a single terrorist. With only two days before they are deployed, a black-ops interrogator and a female FBI agent have to decide how far they will go to find them" -- knowing Jackson's flair for interrogation I can only assume he will play the interrogator in the film.

Jackson is still filming the musical comedy Soul Men with Bernie Mac, so production on Unthinkable won't start until this fall in Minneapolis. But remember, Jackson likes to keep busy, so stay tuned for those Nick Fury updates -- because let's face it, Unthinkable will likely not be the Jackson film everyone is talking about in 2009.

If you'll permit me to embarrass myself for a moment: I'm the guy who liked Neil LaBute's redo of The Wicker Man. Well, maybe I'm not the only one -- if I recall correctly, Weinberg didn't hate it either. But I'm pretty sure that's it. Any movie where Nicolas Cage dropkicks Leelee Sobieski and then dons a bear suit for an extended stretch is okay by me, but most people seemed to think that LaBute was out of his element in the supernatural thriller genre. In that case, his next project finds him back in his wheelhouse: generating suspense by manipulating and exaggerating everyday social tensions. Lakeview Terrace involves an interracial couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) who find an enemy in their new next-door neighbor (Samuel L. Jackson), an LAPD cop who disapproves of their relationship and becomes determined to drive them away.

A trailer for Lakeview Terrace has surfaced on the film's official website, and the movie looks like squirmy, uncomfortable fun -- the kind of material LaBute is most comfortable with. In addition to the racial angle, it looks like the film is going to explore another touchy subject: the near-omnipotence that comes with a police uniform. It takes some guts to make a cop the bad guy without also providing a virtuous foil (e.g. Ethan Hawke offsetting Denzel Washington in Training Day). But if anyone can pull it off, it's Neil LaBute.

[via Comingsoon.net]

UPDATE: Images have been removed at the request of the studio.

While she doesn't look all too excited, I'd gladly take this version of Scarlett Johansson as my nurse any day of the week. According to Egotastic!, the above image is part of three test shots of her character Silk N. Floss in Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's classic comic, The Spirit. In the film, Johansson will play a super sexy femme fatale; secretary and accomplice to the Octopus (played by Samuel L. Jackson). The Octopus is a villain who kills anyone unlucky enough to see his face. The Spirit also stars Gabriel Macht as Denny Colt (aka The Spirit); a rookie cop who returns from the dead to fight crime in Central City. Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Jamie King and Paz Vega round out the cast. Check out more pics of Johansson in the gallery below.

The Spirit is scheduled to arrive in theaters on January 16, 2009.

So am I the only one who thinks that in the first picture for the musical comedy Soul Men, Samuel L. Jackson looks a lot like good old Ordell Robbie? But I guess there are only so many different hairstyles and beards you can try before you start running into some repeats. The first picture for Malcolm D. Little's film has popped up on the official site of music legend and former 'Chef' Isaac Hayes. Hayes, who will appear in the film as himself, stars alongside Jackson, Bernie Mac, Sean Hayes (Will and Grace), and Sharon Leal.

Soul Men centers on two feuding back-up singers named Louis (Jackson) and Floyd (Mac). When their band splits, Louis and Floyd go there separate ways with varying degrees of success. More precisely, Louis robs banks and becomes a convict and Floyd becomes a laundromat baron and retires in style. When the leader of their former band dies, the two men put aside their bad blood and go on a road trip to the Apollo Theater to hold a tribute concert.

OK, so a musical comedy starring Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson has got to be a step up from a Tyler Perry movie, right? For Sharon Leal's sake, I certainly hope so. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Leal has joined the cast of Malcolm Lee's comedy musical Soul Men. The film centers on, "...bickering backup soul singers who haven't spoken in 20 years but reluctantly travel cross country together for a tribute concert to honor their famous former band leader." Leal will play Jackson's daughter Cleo, and thankfully will not serve as a love interest for either of the men. Leal starred in 2005's Dreamgirls as Michelle Morris, Effie White's replacement in the girl-group. Jackson and Mac will do all of their own singing and dancing for Soul Men, so I can only assume that since Leal has musical experience, she will be doing the same.

Christopher had first brought us news of the film last November. At that time, the only cast that had been announced was King of Comedy, Mac and Jackson. Surprisingly the project managed to escape being hit by the writer's strike that has been delaying productions left and right, and is set to start filming on January 21st (I guess Leal was hired just in time). The script was written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone, whose other credits included the Coen's Intolerable Cruelty and Man of the House -- neither of which is probably the best calling card for a screenwriter. Soul Men is scheduled for release on October 10th, 2008.

You would have thought that if 20th Century Fox was going to go to all the trouble of staging a Jumper press event on top of the Luxor Hotel, then they might have at least included their latest international poster. But they didn't, and now Empire Online has the new poster for Doug Liman's film adaptation of Steven Gould's young adult sci-fi series. Jumper stars Hayden Christensen as David Rice, a young man with the ability to teleport himself. So of course, he catches the attention of a secret society that wants to kill off 'jumpers' everywhere, and he is dragged into one of those eternal battles -- the kind that always seems to be going on in the movies. Rachel Bilson also stars as Christensen's childhood love, and Samuel L. Jackson plays the head baddie.

The first poster for the film was definitely a little more 'kid friendly' but now it looks like they are definitely pushing the action angle again. Some of the more obvious tricks include name dropping The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They have also thrown a leather coat into the mix, and suddenly Christensen has morphed into Neo -- and it's not like I'm the only one who has noticed this. Since I haven't read the original novels or obviously seen the movie yet, I'll have to reserve judgment on what Liman has planned. However, it always makes me a little nervous when it seems like the people who made the movie aren't even sure what the film is supposed to be. Jumper hits theaters on February 14th, 2008.