production early that year (it would have been his largest  project to date with starting budget reported at $100 million).  Rodriguez most notable contribution was to hire fantasy painter  Frank Frazetta (qv) (whose most acclaimed works have included  striking illustrations of Edgar Rice Burroughs (qv) novels, most  notably the "John Carter on Mars" books) as production designer on  the film. However, when Rodriguez resigned from the Directors Guild  of America (DGA) the same year (due to a dispute over his film  _Sin City (2005)_ (qv)), Paramount was forced to replace him. The  studio has a long