According to The Hollywood Reporter, actress Sarah Paulson (Studio 60) has joined the cast of Frank Miller’s movie adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit.? She will portray Dr. Ellen Doyle, the police commissioner’s daughter and The Spirit’s true love.? She joins fellow stunners, Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson, who, unlike Paulson, will play femme fatales in Miller’s film, which starts shooting in October at Albuquerque studios in New Mexico.

Veteran character actor Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) has also joined the cast along with Canadian actress Stana Katic, who will portray the rookie cop Morgenstern.? Lauria will take on the key role of Commissioner Dolan, while Johnny Simmons will play the young Denny Colt and Louis Lombardi (The Sopranos) will portray Phobos, one of the Octopus’s chief henchmen.

Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Stana Katic, Johnny Simmons and Louis Lombardi have joined the cast of “Will Eisner’s The Spirit” to be helmed by comic auteur Frank Miller says The Hollywood Reporter.

The film noir follows rookie cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) who returns from the dead to fight crime as the Spirit from the shadows of Central City. Samuel L. Jackson will play the villainous Octopus with Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson as femme fatales. Paulson will play the hero’s true love, Dr. Ellen Dolan, the police commissioner’s daughter. Lauria is the commissioner, Katic a rookie cop, Simmons a younger version of Denny Colt, and Lombardi will play Octopus henchman Phobos.

Production will begin in October in New Mexico and will be shot entirely at Albuquerque Studios. A 2009 release is scheduled.