Spirit stars at abandoned warehouse

1:04am Friday 5th December 2008

The stars of comic book film adaptation The Spirit have appeared at an abandoned warehouse.

Rather than a Leicester Square premiere, Samuel L Jackson, Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johannson graced the red carpet at the Old Post Office in central London, ahead of the film's world premiere in New York next week.

Jackson, who plays The Octopus, said his character was the villain to The Spirit's eponymous superhero. "He's kind of crazy, kind of wild, kind of genius and he wants to be the biggest criminal in the world," he said.

Johannson and Mendes both play sexy female characters. Mendes, wearing a ruffled yellow Bill Blass dress and Louis Vuitton heels, said she enjoyed baring her flesh for the film.

"It's so fun because it's not me. The minute I think it's me I wig out but it's so not me. I'm playing a character so if I drop my towel and show my bum it's not my bum."

The film also has several fight scenes, but the main character, played by Gabriel Macht, never uses a knife or gun.

Director and writer Frank Miller said this was to stay faithful to Will Eisner's original comics.

"That was a passion of Will Eisner's and, as you see, he (The Spirit) doesn't need to because the entire city is his arsenal. I do believe I've done the first scenes where the superhero takes people out with snowballs."

The film is released in the UK on New Year's Day.