Variety is reporting that Frank Miller has signed to write and direct a movie based on The Spirit, Will Eisner's classic comic strip.  Miller, who made his directorial debut (as a co-director) on Sin City, is fashioning a treatment using actual Eisner panels.  Given the visual accuracy of the Sin City adaptation, Spirit fans can look forward to seeing Eisner's dramatic designs with their expressionistic lighting effects and Citizen Kane-inspired angles on the screen.  Miller told Variety: 'I intend to be extremely faithful to the heart and soul of the material, but it won't be nostalgic.  It will be much scarier than people think.'

Miller still has to co-direct Sin City 2 before filming the Spirit movie, which is scheduled to begin shooting next spring.  The film is being financed by Deborah Del Prete and Gigi Pritzker's Odd Lot Entertainment.  Del Prete and Pritzker are producing along with Michael Uslan of Batfilm Productions.