Dennis Haysbert Taking Over For Michael Clarke Duncan In Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Dennis Haysbert taking a phone call in 24.
(Image credit: 20th Century Fox/Imagine Entertainment)

Those who have read Frank Miller's Sin City series have known that there would be a slight hiccup when it came to casting Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, namely the part of Manute. In Robert Rodriguez's 2005 film the character was played by Michael Clarke Duncan, but the Oscar nominated actor sadly died earlier this year. Given that Manute has a big role in the sequel's titular story Rodriguez has to find a replacement actor for the part, and today it seems he has found his man.

Dennis Haysbert, best known for playing President David Palmer on the hit television series 24 and voodoo powered slugger Pedro Cerrano in Major League, will play the vacant role in Rodriguez's new movie, according to THR. He is actually not the first actor to replace a performer from the first movie, as it was previously announced that Jamie Chung will take over for Devon Aoki as the dangerous Miho. That said, many of the original's heavy hitters - including Mickey Rourke (Marv), Jessica Alba (Nancy), Jaime King (Goldie), and Rosario Dawson (Gail) - will be back and playing their parts.

Regarding Haysbert's casting, Rodriguez and Miller said in a joint statement, "Manute is a character that has been part of the heart of the Sin City tales and the late Michael Clarke Duncan beautifully established that role on screen. We could not tell the story of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For without Manute and are thrilled to welcome Dennis Haysbert to the cast."

What remains a mystery is the identity of the actors who will play the film's two leads. In A Dame To Kill For, Dwight (played by Clive Owen in Sin City) finds himself drawn back into a relationship with his femme fatale ex, a woman named Ava. The character of Dwight underwent massive facial reconstruction in between the events of A Dame To Kill For and The Big Fat Kill (the story that played out in the first movie) so it's possible that Rodriguez could find a new person for the part (with perhaps a cool cameo by Owen at the end).

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For will be released on October 4, 2013.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.