Marv is the star in the first collection of Frank Miller's SIN CITY.
© Frank Miller
Sin City
By: Development HeckDate: Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Genre:
Comic Book Adaptation/Animation/Action.
Studio:
Dimension Films.
Production Company:
Troublemaker Studios.
Project Phase:
Released.
Who's In It:
Mickey Rourke (Marv); Bruce Willis (Hartigan); Josh Hartnett (Dwight); Marley Shelton; Jaime King (Goldie); Carla Gugino (Lucille); Jessica Alba (Nancy); Elijah Wood (Kevin, rumored); Brittany Murphy; Nick Stahl (Junior, Yellow Bastard); Benicio Del Toro; Clive Owen; Rosario Dawson; Michael Clarke Duncan.
Who's Making It:
Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller (Diriectors, Screenwriters); Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, Elizabeth Avellan (Producers); based on the comic book line by Frank Miller, published by Dark Horse Comics.
Premise:
Rodriguez is using material from three SIN CITY stories in his movie, weaving them together as one tapestry.
Release Date:
April 1, 2005.
Comments:
If Frank Miller can keep this film from going down the Hollywood fastrack to the toilet like other adaptations of comics have ended up, this will be one hell of a ride.
Scoop Feedback:
February 26, 2004... Fans of Frank Miller's black-and-white comic book series SIN CITY will want to take note of this news: according to Variety, SPY KIDS director Robert Rodriguez has started filming the SIN CITY movie. No, you read that last sentence correct: Rodriguez has already finished filming the opening sequence of the SIN CITY movie...we're just finding out about it today.
Rodriguez has cast Josh Hartnett (HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE) and Marley Shelton (VALENTINE) in the big screen adaptation of Miller's work. The film's opening uses Hartnett and Shelton, but it's unclear whether Rodriguez's movie follows the first SIN CITY story or is an amalgam of the many tales from that dry and dirty town. If the movie follows the opening sequence of the first SIN CITY tale, that would mean Hartnett is playing the role of Marv,
a ex-con who gets duped into looking like he committed a murder. If our assessment is accurate Shelton would be playing the role of Goldie, a stunning woman that spends the night with Marv...and winds up dead.
The director is currently casting the remaining parts of the film, with the remainder of the shoot starting again in Austin, Texas next month. The picture is set up at Dimension Films.
Of special note is the inclusion of comic creator Miller: he's getting co-directing credit on the picture. According to Variety's story, Rodriguez convinced Miller that he was the man to make a SIN CITY movie by filming a sample scene and showing how faithful he would be to the comic's stark look. [Variety.]
UPDATE!: Ain't It Cool News has reported on the SIN CITY story and added to the collective knowledge base. According to site operator Harry Knowles, Josh Hartnett is not playing the character of Marv. Knowles also explains how Rodriguez coaxed Frank Miller into letting him make the SIN CITY movie by completing the first ten minutes of the picture as a representative of the kind of visual look he wanted to bring to the picture. Rodriguez has also used that same footage to show the actors he wants to play the film's central roles.
Meanwhile, Dimension Films has issued a press release commenting on Rodriguez's movie. The studio clarifies that the movie's storyline will incorporate three of the SIN CITY graphic novels, specifically the first as well as THAT YELLOW BASTARD and THE BIG FAT KILL.
"Robert Rodriguez came to me with a bold, coherent plan for bringing my baby to the screen," said creator Frank Miller in the release. "I'm jumping at the chance. This is gonna be a whole new kind of crime movie." [AICN.]
March 31, 2004... Actress Carla Gugino has joined the cast of Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY. The former lead star of ABC's KAREN SISCO series will play a lesbian parole officer in the crime noir film. Reportedly Gugino's scenes will involve Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke.
Gugino has worked with director Rodriguez before on the three SPY KIDS movies. [Variety.]
April 19, 2004... Today's edition of Lying in the Gutters, which delivers insider news and scoops for the comic industry, has published a report from an individual with knowledge of the SIN CITY movie that Robert Rodriguez is now filming. Thanks to that scoop, we've learned the following:
For more scoopage, check out the new Lying in the Gutters.
April 27, 2004... DARK ANGEL actress Jessica Alba is in talks to join the ensemble cast of Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY, now shooting in Austin, Texas. If Alba joins the team she'll play the part of Nancy, an exotic dancer. (Yes, let's wait a moment while we let out male readers catch up...OK there fellas?)
Alba's scenes would include moments with Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke's characters. We know Rourke is playing tough-as-nails ex-con Marv, so Nancy could be one of the girls that the character Goldie knows.
And before we start getting flooded with email requests -- as soon as we get pictures from the set when the HONEY actress is shooting her scenes, yes, we'll publish them on here. Promise. [The Hollywood Reporter.]
April 29, 2004... The latest casting addition announced for Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's SIN CITY movie is TERMINATOR 3 star Nick Stahl. The actor is in final talks to play the parts of Junior and the Yellow Bastard, players in Miller's SIN CITY tale titled THAT YELLOW BASTARD. He will begin working on the second season of HBO's CARNIVALE after completing his roles in the comic book film.
Stahl joins a cast that consists of Mickey Rourke, Jaime King, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Marley Shelton, Josh Hartnett, Brittany Murphy and Bruce Willis. [The Hollywood Reporter.]
Meanwhile, a scooper out in the void of cyberspace contacted the site yesterday and gave us two links to check out which, if their facts are straight, tell us which character Elijah Wood is playing in Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY film. Upon first hearing the news, Wood, who is coming off of playing the Hobbit Frodo in Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy of movies, would seem an odd choice for this particular SIN CITY character -- but that's not to say he wouldn't make things interesting to watch.
First up, The Internet Movie Database lists Wood as playing the part of "Kevin" in the film. The only Kevin that we remember from Frank Miller's SIN CITY graphic novels is a vicious killer of women, a mute who is deadly in close combat and a lunatic that also eats the bodies of his victims. Kevin was introduced in Miller's first SIN CITY book and is an adversary of Marv, the rough-and-tumble brawler at the center of that particular story.
The unconfirmed piece of speculation is also being bandied about by one Elijah Wood fansite, namely Always & Forever.
Casting information from SIN CITY has been hard to obtain and confirm, leading to speculation. If the IMDb's source is correct and Wood is playing Kevin in Rodriguez's film, it's going to be an interesting part to see the young actor make his own.
[Thanks to anonymous for the tip!]
April 30, 2004... Our page is launched for this project.
May 20, 2004... The cast for Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY just keeps getting bigger and better. Now we have Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro (THE HUNTED) and Clive Owen (KING ARTHUR) joining the ensemble, still filming in Austin, Texas. The pair join the already impressive cast consisting of Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Josh Hartnett, Nick Stahl, Jessica Alba, Jaime King, Elijah Wood, Carla Gugino and Marley Shelton.
Variety reports that Rodriguez is still after buddy Quentin Tarantino to direct part of the film. Word has it that Robert will be asking Quentin to come help out after the latter returns from France where the KILL BILL director is judging the contestants at the Cannes Film Festival. [Variety.]
June 1, 2004... Rosario Dawson (MEN IN BLACK II) is the latest addition to the swelling cast of SIN CITY. The part that Dawson will play is unknown but the trade magazine Variety did reveal that she will be appearing in the final chapter of that film's three separate storylines. [The Hollywood Reporter.]
June 18, 2004...
Big man Michael Clarke Duncan has joined the ever-swelling cast of Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY, reports the trade magazine Variety. What role Duncan will take in the ensemble production remains unknown at the present time.
After fulfilling his obligations to Rodriguez, Duncan will move on to star in AMERICAN CRUDE. Rob Schneider, Jennifer Esposito and Ron Livingston co-star in that project, the feature directorial debut of actor Craig Sheffer (currently starring in The WB's ONE TREE HILL.) [Variety.]
July 21, 2004... Over
Is this teaser poster for Robert Rodriguez's SIN CITY the real deal or fake?
©
SIN CITY director Robert Rodriguez will be attending a panel at the San Diego Comic Convention this coming Saturday to discuss the production and show clips from the film. It's likely Rodriguez will address the legitimacy of the poster at this time, and if he does we'll report to you what he has to say about it.
[Comic Art Museum.org.]
July 22, 2004... The first notable scoop from the San Diego Comic Convention is in and it comes via Latino Review. A representative from the movie website hit the floor of Comic-Con during last evening's preview night to see the sights, and one of the things they snapped with their digital camera was this photo showing the same SIN CITY banner of Marv (Mickey Rourke's character in the movie) that we first told you about yesterday. The snap from the Latino Review fellas ends the question as to whether the SIN CITY banner design was authentic or the product of a fan.
UPDATE!: We received this reader's email right about the time our original story hit the site, another visual confirmation of the poster:
"My buddy was at Preview Night last night at the San Diego Comicon and he called to tell me about the SIN CITY Mickey Rourke as MARV poster that was there. Actually he said it was a huge tapestry at the Dark Horse booth. His description was exactly like the ones you guys posted on your site. Just thought I would let you know that the poster is indeed real."
[Anonymous with the cell.]
August 10, 2005... Dimension Films has slotted SIN CITY for an April 1, 2005 opening date.
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