In the recent tradition of bad directorial picks for hotly anticipated projects, IESB.net reports that producer Gianni Nunnari has recruited Sylvain White to direct an adaptation of Frank Miller’s comic Ronin. Although helming such classics as I Always Knew What You Did Last Summer and Stomp the Yard, White has yet to prove that he has enough talent to pull off a decent adaptation of well, anything.
“I’m a huge Frank Miller fan and I’m a huge graphic novel fan. I grew up in France… Frank Miller is one of the few Americans whose graphic novels I really like; and so of course, Ronin is the best possible project I thought I could ever have,” White said in an interview with Blackfilm.com. “The idea will be to stay close to the graphic novel. Ronin is very dense and very long, so of course we are going to have to streamline the story to fit it within a movie time frame.”
While Ronin's story works for the graphic novel, it’s ridiculous enough to easily be minced and mangled by lame Hollywood clichés and conventions. When a dishonored 13th century samurai is reborn in 21st century, the ronin is thrown into the violent Manhattan underground where he finds a reincarnation of his arch nemesis.
Perhaps White can combine his love of the source material and with the cinematic power of his International heritage to pull off screen version of Miller’s grand vision. If Miller isn’t one thing, it’s Hollywood. White has to step up to showcase Miller’s world and not just churn out a Hollywood cash-in on the popularity of comic book adaptations. It might be a good time to start getting nervous about a Frank Miller adaptation.
