The Spirit (1987 film)
| The Spirit | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action Adventure Crime Thriller |
| Written by | Steven E. de Souza |
| Directed by | Michael Schultz |
| Starring | Sam J. Jones |
| Music by | Barry Goldberg |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Paul Aratow |
| Cinematography | Frank Thackery |
| Editor(s) | Tod Feuerman Gregory Prange |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Warner Bros. Television |
| Budget | $2.5 million[1] |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | July 31, 1987[2] |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
The Spirit is a 1987 American made-for-television action-adventure film based on the comic book character The Spirit by Will Eisner.
Cast
- Sam J. Jones as Denny Colt/The Spirit
- Nana Visitor as Ellen Dolan
- Bumper Robinson as Eubie
- Garry Walberg as Commissioner Dolan
- Laura M. Robinson as P'Gell Roxton
Production
Producer Paul Aratow, a professed fan of the character, first acquired an option on Will Eisner's The Spirit in 1975 and not long thereafter began development with NBC on a TV movie adaptation of the property with William Friedkin slated to produce and direct the film that would serve as a pilot for a proposed series.[3][4] For Friedkin's incarnation of the project Burt Reynolds and Flip Wilson were in negotiations to play the characters of Denny Colt/The Spirit and Ebony White respectively.[4] Friendkin and NBC's iteration of the project ultimately never came to fruition with Friedkin attempting to develop treatments with writers such as Pete Hamill, Jules Feiffer, Harlan Ellison, and Eisner himself with Friedkin unable to find a treatment he liked and eventually leaving the project while Aratow would release The Spirit rights to Columbia Pictures in 1980.[3] [5]
Aratow had become acquainted with Eisner while working on an adaptation of another Eisner creation, Sheena, and the two worked together in reviving the project in the 80s.[3] In 1986, Aratow and Eisner's attorney met with Warner Bros. Television Studios to secure the rights for Aratow The Spirit television film which was set up at ABC as a pilot for a potential series.[3][1] Director Michael Schultz, producer Paul Aratow, and writer Steven E. de Souza had initially intended to play the material as a straight forward adaptation of the source material, but after Sam J. Jones was cast as the titular character as part of a non-negotiable mandate from ABC, the team collectively decided a serious performance wasn't working and opted to play the material in a manner similar to Flash Gordon or the 1960s Batman series.[3][1] The creative team used Kitchen Sink Press reprints of The Spirit for visual and thematic references with de Souza incorporating Eisner's writing style into his own and Schultz staging the lighting and framing in a manner similar to the comics.[3] Due to the problematic nature of the character of Ebony White, the team reworked the character in massively toned down fashion as Eubie played by Bumper Robinson.[3] The production had wanted to set the film in the 1940s, but due to budget constraints this wasn't possible and instead it was decided to make the film a "no period" piece with the setting featuring a mixture of archaic and modern aesthetics, a stylistic choice the art department would bring to the 1989 Batman which included many who'd worked on The Spirit.[3]
Broadcast
While the series was shot as a pilot for a potential The Spirit TV series for ABC's 1986 Fall Schedule, during production ABC experienced a change in ownership with many of the executives who'd shepherded the project now gone from the company and new management found the pilot "too offbeat and morbid" and shelved the pilot without even setting up any test screenings.[1] The creative team tried to rescue the pilot by holding a screening at the 1986 San Diego Comic-Con as well as circulating a "Save the Spirit" petition whose signatories included Paul Dini, Peter David, and Len Wein.[1] ABC eventually aired the pilot on July 31, 1987, but did so with little fanfare and well past the point where series pickup was a possibility.[2]
Reception
Will Eisner expressed dissatisfaction with the end result of The Spirit calling it "Awful" and "Cardboard" and saying the experience watching it "made my toes curl".[3] Paul Aratow spoke of The Spirit with frustration having spent a decade trying to get the film made and complimented Steven E. de Souza's script, Michael Schultz' direction, and the film's production and costume design as high points while lamenting the fact ABC forced them to use Sam J. Jones as the lead and that had a different actor played The Spirit it would've resulted in a much stronger end result.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 'Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
- Pages using infobox television with editor parameter
- 1980s American films
- Television films as pilots
- Television pilots not picked up as a series
- American superhero films
- 1980s superhero films
- 1987 films
- ABC Motion Pictures films
- Live-action films based on comics
- Films directed by Michael Schultz
- Films with screenplays by Steven E. de Souza
