Jaime King plays Goldie in 'Sin City.'

HOLLYWOOD -- Robert Rodriguez calls his new film Sin City a comic book movie as opposed to a movie based on a comic book.

"It's the real thing," says Rodriguez, peering from beneath his trademark cowboy hat.

"So many people have taken comic books only to bring in writers who keep the characters and invent everything else.

"My intention with Sin City was to put the comic book on film panel for panel. That's why the film is called Frank Miller's Sin City as opposed to Robert Rodriguez's Sin City or just plain Sin City."

For the past two decades, Frank Miller has been one of the most influential forces in comics and graphic novels.

His work on Spider-Man, Daredevil and Batman are legendary, but these men-in-tights were never his real passion.

His heart lay with the dark, seedy characters of vintage crime novels, and it was these hard-boiled detectives and seductive mysterious women who became the inhabitants of his Sin City.

Since 1991, Miller, 48, has produced seven graphic novels set in Sin City.

Rodriguez builds his Sin City around The Yellow Bastard, The Big Fat Kill and The Hard Goodbye.

"It's the hardest film I've worked on because it's essentially a trilogy I'm releasing on the same day," he says.

Rodriguez used computer technology to recreate Miller's novels.

Rodriguez turned his studio in Austin, Tex., into a green screen lab.

Benicio Del Toro, who plays corrupt cop Jackie Boy, recalls the first day he walked into the studio.

"It was like being in the office of The Wizard of Oz. Everything was green. You learned very quickly to trust the Wizard. You just had to throw yourself into his world," says Del Toro.

Lending to that trust was a sneak preview of how Rodriguez envisioned the film.

"(Frank) didn't believe me when I said I was going to be completely faithful to his books. He'd heard that empty promise too many times before."

So Rodriguez filmed a scene with Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton with Miller in attendance. The plan worked.

Miller signed the deal the same day and Rodriguez insisted he co-direct.

"It's Frank's world. He had to be there. We couldn't do it without Sin City's historian beside us."

When Rodriguez contacted an actor, he showed them the scene which now opens the film.

In order to be completely faithful to the graphic novels, Rodriguez had to include all the violence, degradation and sexism.

"Look, it's called Sin City. It has to live up to its title," says Rodriguez who insists audiences won't be shocked.

However, he says the movie isn't for mass audiences.

"I made this movie for adults. I make movies for families and kids. This is not one of them. I set out to make an R-rated movie and that's what I've delivered."

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