New Spirit trailer locked and loaded

When I sat in the panel for THE SPIRIT at Comic-Con a few months ago, I had the same reservations as everyone else does, about whether the film will work. The early footage and trailers were so-so, but didn’t get my fanboy juices flowing. And while I was thrilled by the entire Comic-Con atmosphere, and really enjoyed seeing all the stars of the movie in person, after the panel, I was still as undecided as Independent voters in the upcoming presidential election.

However, the trailer below has swayed me in the direction of “this could be a fun ride”. But I really want to be at the point of “this will kick ass”, and I’m not there yet. But there’s plenty of gunplay, more depth into the characters, and some sweet shots of the “Ladies of The Spirit”, so it’s definitely worth a look.

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.

Then of course, there’s Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), the jewel thief with dangerous curves. She’s the love of his life turned bad. Will he save her or will she kill him?

The Spirit, which opens Christmas Day 2008, 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. 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.

Check out the new Spirit trailer below.