The Spirit is a 2008 American neo-noir Superhero film, written and directed by Frank Miller and starring Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega, Jaime King, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is based on the Newspaper comic strip The Spirit by Will Eisner. OddLot and Lionsgate produced the film. The Spirit was released in the United States on December 25, 2008, and on DVD and Blu-ray on April 14, 2009. The film was a box office flop and received negative reviews, with critics citing its melodrama, poor acting, and diverging from the source material.