The Spirit: Featurette

Adapted from Will Eisner’s comic book series, "The Spirit" is a classic action-adventure-romance genre-twister written for the screen and directed by Frank Miller (creator of 300 and Sin City). It is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) has a different mission: he's going to wipe out Spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit tracks this cold-hearted killer from Central City’s rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront ... all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader. Surrounding him at every turn are Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), the whip-smart girl-next-door; Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), a punk secretary and frigid vixen; Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega), a murderous French nightclub dancer; Lorelei (Jaime King), a phantom siren; and Morgenstern (Stana Katic), a sexy young cop. In the vein of Batman Begins and Sin City, The Spirit takes us on a sinister, gut-wrenching ride with a hero who is born, murdered and born again. "The Spirit," which opens Christmas Day, stars Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega and Jaime King, with Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson as "The Octopus." Odd Lot Entertainment and Lionsgate are production partners on the film which is written for the screen and directed by Frank Miller and based on the comic book series created by Will Eisner. Odd Lot's Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker are producing along with Michael E. Uslan of Batfilm Productions Inc. Batfilm co-founder Benjamin Melniker and Steven Maier are executive producing, along with Odd Lot's William Lischak and Lionsgate's Michael Burns and Michael Paseornek. Odd Lot's Linda McDonough and Batfilm/Comic Book Movies' F.J. DeSanto are co-producing.