'Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For' Production Moves Forward: Casting Begins Next Week, Film Shoots This Summer

Director Robert Rodriguez has been promising a sequel to his beloved 2005 neo-noir "Sin City" for so long that it began to fall into the "we'll believe it when we see it" category. But the dream is now a reality. Titled, "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For," Dimension Films, AR Films and Rodriguez's recently formed Quick Draw Productions announced this evening that production had begun on the sequel and that casting would begin next week. 

“The first question I am always asked is “When will you make another Sin City?,” Rodriquez in a statement. “I have wanted to re-team with Frank Miller and return to the world he created since the day we wrapped the original, but have felt a duty to the fans to wait until we had something truly exceptional that would meet and exceed what have become epic expectations. 'A Dame To Kill For' will certainly be worth the wait.”

"Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" was developed by Frank Miller, based on his "Sin City" graphic novels, and features a screenplay by Frank Miller and Academy Award-winner William Monahan ("The Departed"). The film is expected to begin production this summer at Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas.

This is a slight surprise because Rodriguez had last promised that "Machete 2" starring Danny Trejo would go into production this spring, leaving "Sin City 2" to presumably wait at least another year, but the Austin-based filmmaker is a run-and-gunner, and clearly he changed his mind, presumably because the 'Dame To Kill For' script is exactly where it needs to be (though with his speed and resources, Troublemaker Studios' resources, who's to say whether "Machete Kills" isn't also shooting this spring; Ethan Maniquis did co-direct the first one after all).

No cast has been announced, but according to the press release, many of the original cast are expected to return. "Sin City" starred a bevy of talent including Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett and many more, some of whom died in the original film and some of whom didn't, so who actually turns up in this one is anyone's guess. But graphic novel-based films are always fluid with time, and anyone who perished in the orignal could conceivably return if the story was set before their death.