Next Frank Miller movie project could be Hard Boiled

"after co-directing “Sin City” and single-handedly helming the upcoming adaptation of Will Eisner’s “The Spirit,” Miller has decided that the only person he’d want directing a “Hard Boiled” movie is himself.

“I’m in love with directing,” he gushed. “I’ve found a way to expand my career. Comics and directing are really two sides of the same coin. That’s what Robert Rodriguez taught me…good drama is good drama.”

Originally published in 1990 by Dark Horse Comics and drawn by Geoff Darrow, “Hard Boiled” follows Carl Seitz, an insurance investigator who unexpectedly discovers that he’s actually a cyborg named Nixon, a psychotic assassin/tax collector who’s also heralded as the future savior of the robot race. This is, obviously, unrelated to the John Woo movie of the same time."

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/04/21/exclusive-frank-miller-in-talks-to-direct-hard-boiled-movie/

I really hope this gets off the ground. Hard Boiled was my introduction to Frank Miller and Geoff Darrow, and is still one of my all-time favorite comics. The detail of the art is astonishing.

"My name's Carl. I'm a tax collector."

I've liked Frank for about 26 years, but I don't think that he benefits greatly from a too-loose leash. If he's given carte blanche to bring Hard Boiled to the big screen, well...

I used to work for Dark Horse Comics, and I remember one year at San Diego Comic Con. We were setting up an autograph session for Frank, and he showed up, put down his stuff, sat behind the table, and lit up a smoke. I turned to Diana Schutz, Frank's editor at Dark Horse, and said "Uhh, I thought there was no smoking in the convention center." She replied, "It's Frank. And don't you dare say anything to him about it." I didn't.

Frank has had some major success in Hollywood (Sin City, 300). Let's hope that his earlier failures (Robocop 2 and 3) help to steer him in the right direction.

then I think we have no worries.

I googled and discovered that Serenity's budget was just $39 million. Color me very surprised!

Still, I'm not too optimistic about this one...

The Spirit...

Having just read the graphic novel again, I'd have to say that you could execute the entire thing onscreen in under 25 minutes. Anything longer than that would require the injection of details not found in the comic (which is okay by me but also problematic) or else the agonizing protraction of huge fight scenes. Of course, it'll be cool to see that huge Police Tank...

The story is reasonably straightforward, and although the concept is cool, it's Darrow's art that really steals the show, rather than Miller's (in this case) unremarkable writing. Also, we have the problem of a talking dog, and to date no talking dog has ever been put on film without seeming stupid or annoying ("Frank" in Men in Black, to name one of countless examples).

Also, if Miller shoots it in the same Sin City-esqe motif that we'll be seeing in The Spirit, he'll have gone to the well once too often IMO.

I expect that the film will either really suck or really rock.