Oscar-Winning Screenwriter William Monahan Plans to Vacation in ‘Sin City 2’

There is nothing like the hope that springs eternal for cool movie projects. The first Sin City was noir perfection with different kinds of eye candy (technical and biological) and a tapestry of a script that flew right off the pages of Frank Miller’s saturated graphic novels. Talk of Sin City 2 has gone on for far too long.

It’s gone on so long that new information about it came with an Arrested-Development-Movie-sized-grain-of-salt, but the storm clouds seem to be lifting to reveal new light shining down on the sequel.

Robert Rodriguez made a big noise about it at Comic-Con, claimed that funding had been found, and now The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that The Departed screenwriter William Monahan has signed on to do some work on Miller’s latest draft. That’s quite the pedigree for a polish. On the one hand, it’ll be great to have a pair of eyes like Monahan’s on the work, but it’s unclear as to whether this is uncredited doctoring or whether he’ll have the go-ahead to make significant changes if needed.

Even if it’s a smaller role in shaping the story, there are still plenty of reasons to be excited for a sequel. Chief among them is Rodriguez claiming that the characters that survived the first film will make it to the sequel, and on that front, his track record of getting the talent he wants speaks for itself. Hopefully all of this comes together with relative speed, and we get a sequel worthy of its hellacious predecessor.

Scott Beggs: Movie stuff at VanityFair, Thrillist, IndieWire, Film School Rejects, and The Broken Projector Podcast@brokenprojector | Writing short stories at Adventitious.