Frank Miller wants to Buck
Get your ray guns ready kids. The Spirit hasn’t even hit theaters yet but Frank Miller already has his sights set on adapting another pulp comic character to the big screen. Buck Rogers.
Odd Lot Entertainment, the production company behind The Spirit, is in negotiations to secure the rights to Buck Rogers from Nu Image/Millenium. The Hollywood Reporter writes, “Miller will write and direct his own big-screen take on the comic serial; while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it’s expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller’s signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption.”
The character first appeared in 1928 in a novella by Philip Francis Nolan in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. Rogers went on to star in his own long-running comic strip and eventually became the subject of the first science fiction show on radio in 1932. He also appeared in several movie serials and tv shows, of course the most memorable being Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Early reviews of The Spirit have not been kind. Most critics site the recycling of Miller’s Sin City-style imagery. Will that become the comic-turned-filmmaker’s trademark? Does pulp equal black and white with splashes of color or will Miller surprise us all with his next film? Who knows, he could very well turn out a Sin City sequel first.
Frank Miller said something about how this is the Spirit movie Will Eisner would have loved.
Sorry, Frank, I don’t think so.
This looks more like a Sin City movie than a Spirit movie.
I want to hear what someone like Darwyn Cooke, Neil Gaiman or someone else who has written some great Spirit stories has to say about the film. Or a Golden Age afficionado like Anthony Tollin or Roy Thomas.
I swear I have never been so ‘on the fence’ about a movie like this in my life.
GB, lol.
Regarding The Spirit, I think it should have been made in a Will Eisner-Spirit style instead of like Sin City. That could have been done in a similar fashion just by including a lot more color splashes I think.
I think Miller should do a dark version of the Buck Rogers TV show from the 80s, instead of the original source material. Then bulk up Twiki so he’s a 7 foot robot who follows him around and smashes anything that gets in Buck’s way. “Biddi biddi biddi BOOM!”
In all fairness, Randy, there were a lot of re-writes on the second and third ROBOCOP films, though reading the comic book adaptation of his original script for II did not fill me with a sense of glee.
As far as Buck Rogers is concerned as long as they keep that awesome theme song from the pilot and television series I am good.
Seriously. I love that theme.
I think the majority of the reason of Sin City’s box office success was not because of Frank Miller but because he was working with Robert Rodriguez. In my opinion, he should be directing the Spirit film.
Let’s not forget that Frank Miller was the ‘genius’ behind Robocop 2 and Robocop 3.
Don’t get me wrong, I love his comics work. Always will. Well, not All-Star Batman and Robin, but Daredevil, Ronin, Sin City, 300.
I think, however, he has surrounded himself with people who tell him on a daily basis what a ‘creative genius’ he is and he is making some horrible decisions based on this.
Mind you, I have not seen the Spirit film yet. What I have seen so far, I can’t really say I’m looking forward to it. As always though, I’m willing to keep an open mind for the time being.
Regarding The Spirit, I think the negative reviews are because the movie looks like it has over the top acting. I say this based on the trailer I saw, but I don’t know what other reviewers have stated.
Also, the green screen FX with black and white and color highlights for a “super hero” in the vein of “Sin City” might not cut it for audiences who may be tightening their belts this Christmas as it is.
“Sin City’s” style was it’s own trademark visually, and based on Miller’s very own work which was, admittedly, fantastic.
I think “The Spirit” is Frank Miller’s misguided and self-indulgent attempt at making a movie based on the character, a favorite of his as he admired Will Eisner.
Sadly, it will fail.
Why Miller is attempting to do Buck Rogers is beyond me.
I would like for a Buck Rogers movie to be a success, but I have reservations.
Yes, “Sin City” was good, as was “300.”
The thing is, these were his properties to begin with, and I think he should stick with his own material.