film: WATCHMEN

[Setarcos]

Wow!

Have you read the comic? It is genius. If you haven't read it read it now, especially if you're paranoid

Aranofsky is great but he is gonna need to come up with something special to do this

 

[Stark]

Great book.

Alan Moore is one of the best writers in the universe.

V for Vendetta would make a WAY cooler movie... but the subject matter might be considered a little too... fitting for right now.

Any links to info about this? I'd hate to think you're just getting my hopes up for nothing....

 

[Setarcos]

http://www.alanmoorefansite.com/

to be fair I heard about it happening, then not-happening a while back; the link there is fairly recent
but searching on google all the links seem to be comic book ones,
I'm not sure how they'll turn Watchmen into a film with all those supplements

 

[nowonmai]

Not Aranofsky as it turns out... although he would have been great.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=6877982
Not much on IMDB yet though... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409459/

I'm going through a phase of graphic novels at the moment and this stands head and shoulders above the lot from the storyline angle. Now if only Simon Bisley had done the art...

 

[Neural Shock]

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18858

I wish he would hurry along with the next movie otherwise he really will be comparable to Kubrick.

 

[Raz]

FUCK. OFF.

This movie will rock. I really wish though that it were animated. I don't know why, but I really don't think you get the best Watchmen atmosphere unless it's animated and really dark...

 

[onetwothreefour]

i'm not a comic fan in the slightest, but vaguely remember coming across one of these some years back and being mightily impressed.

aronofsky is a fantastic pick for director. another film to be excited about. things are looking good

 

[nowonmai]

^ He's not doing it, Paul Greengrass is.

 

[L2R]

Snyder talks about WATCHMEN

I'm thoroughly enjoying my first read of the book, and am looking forward to this. Tom or no tom.

Zack Snyder Talks "Watchmen"By Garth FranklinThursday March 15th 2007 5:59am
In the wake of the success of "300", director Zack Snyder has become searingly hot property this week and he talked about his proposed plans for the "Watchmen" comic adaptation to Comic Book Resources:

When Is It In Production
I'm doing "Watchmen" next for sure. That's what we're focusing all our attention on...It's the best thing out there. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but I feel like "Watchmen" is the coolest thing ever and I have to do it.

Can It Be Made For Sub-$150 Million?
I think it can. We have ideas and I think there's a way to do it...really, none of this is real yet. The reality is that it's still an R rated movie, it's an R rated super hero movie, something that's never been tested before and no one knows what the hell that means

Tom Cruise's Involvement
"I don't think he's doing it. I wish he would, but I think Tom's busy and our schedule is making that tough. We've had a lot of great conversations about it and he's a bit of a "Watchmen" fan now, but I don't think he'll do it."

Costumes
A lot of what we're doing will look exactly as it does in the book, but there are a couple of things we'll update, like the girls. Not update in the sense that it won't be 1985, it'll still be 1985, but to give them a little sexier look or to update the outfits a bit. A lot of graphic novels and comic book heroes have been made into films since 1985 and despite how cool "Watchmen" is, it needs an ever so slight tweak for today's audience.

Changes Of The Assorted Hero Designs
A little bit... I think Rorschach will look exactly as he does. Dr. Manhattan will look probably exactly as he does. Night Owl will be pretty close, but we're trying to make him look a little scarier. Ozy I want to make just a little cooler. He's kind of got a Luxor aesthetic and I want to have more of a realistic look. I always thought that if Ozy had Egyptian artifacts, he'd have the real thing, no repro stuff.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news07/070315o.php

 

[tambourine-man]

Holy shit!

That's one to look forward to!

 

[echo off]

fkn aye!!

i was wondering when it first went pre-production what classification they'd aim for. i'm glad they want to stick with R. and i hardly think tom cruise would fit into any of the characters anyway. maybe if he put on some old man weight he could be night-owl?

for those that know nothing about the comic book:

Watchmen is a twelve-issue graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Originally published by DC Comics as a monthly limited series from 1986 to 1987,[1] it was later republished as a trade paperback.[2] It was one of the first superhero comics to present itself as serious literature, and it also popularized the "graphic novel" format. Watchmen is the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award,[3] and is also the only graphic novel to appear on Time Magazine's 2005 list of "the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present."[1]

Watchmen is set in 1985, in an alternative history United States where costumed adventurers are real and the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (the Doomsday Clock is at five minutes to midnight). It tells the story of a group of past and present superheroes and the events surrounding the mysterious murder of one of their own. Watchmen depicts superheroes as real people who must confront ethical and personal issues, who struggle with neuroses and failings, and who - with one notable exception - lack anything recognizable as super powers. Watchmen's deconstruction of the conventional superhero archetype, combined with its innovative adaptation of cinematic techniques and heavy use of symbolism, multi-layered dialogue, and metafiction, has influenced both comics and film.

 

[echo off]

... ehem *cough* **bump**... huey!

 

[indelibleface]

Watchmen is easily my favorite comic book of all time. Hell, if you count graphic novels as books, it's my favorite book of all time, too. It's such a deep, realistic, and intense story with characters who aren't perfect, who have real, meaningful problems, and who don't always get along with each other. The whole story convincingly deals with the threat of annihilation and the threat of age and being rendered useless by the passage of time. And, the best part is that there's a lack of actual superhero powers, save for one person (who's so infinitely powerful that he really could care less for humanity), which adds to the whole realism aspect. And, the best part IMHO... *spoiler warning*

NSFW:

...the villain basically wins at the end, unexpectedly, and coldly. And a lot of the resolution of the story is the way the characters deal with the consequences. It's a very original way to go about things.

I know that Terry Gilliam was originally going to do the project back in the '90s, but then backed away, calling the whole thing "unmakeable", and he would only do it if it was made into a miniseries. He felt he couldn't do it justice. Someone then wrote out a whole script, which sucked -- I've read it, and it's incredibly weak and does not stick to the original plot at all. I hope and I'm assuming they aren't using this script, and I really hope that they stick to the original plot pretty closely. I don't think I could enjoy the film otherwise.

 

[L2R]

fuckin bloody shit

20th Century Fox has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Pictures claiming it holds the exclusive copyrights and contract rights to Alan Moore's graphic novel "Watchmen". Warners has been in production on the film version of the acclaimed book for several months with Zack Snyder ("300") at the helm.

Fox claims that between 1986 and 1990, it acquired all movie rights to the comics and screenplays. In 1991, Fox assigned some rights via a quitclaim to Largo International with the understanding that the studio held exclusive rights to distribute the first motion picture based on the comic according to the lawsuit.

When Largo dismantled, the rights were transferred to producer Lawrence Gordon. Under a "turnaround agreement" between Fox and Gordon, the producer agreed to pay a buy-out price to Fox if he entered into any agreement with another studio or third party to develop or produce Watchmen, among other things.

Fox claims that neither Gordon nor Warner Bros. has paid the buy-out price or advised the studio of any other conditions required under the agreement, including procedures necessary to acquire the rights to Watchmen from Fox.

this better not cause any delays

 

[L2R]

cool

Scotsman Gerard Butler has confirmed to Empire Magazine that the animated "Tales of the Black Freighter" supplement in the original "Watchmen" graphic novel will be shot for the upcoming DVD release of the film.

The comic-within-a-comic tells the tale of a castaway's mental and physical deterioration and damnation as he tries to intercept a ghost freighter headed for his hometown.

"I'm going to do the voice of the captain. They're going to do it in the style of a Japanese anime and I'm totally stoked" says Butler.

 

[L2R]

sick!

The official site for "300" director Zack Snyder's adaptation of acclaimed Alan Moore graphic novel "Watchmen" has been updated with the first photos showing off five characters.

Click below for larger versions of Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian (absolutely perfect), Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl (too Batman-esque), Matthew Goode as Ozymandias (could've been better, but more believable than the comic's purple mini-skirt), Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach (spot on), and Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre (spot on).

The film itself opens one year precisely from today - March 6th 2009:

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news08/080306l.php

 

[axl blaze]

holy shit! look at how perfect the Comedian looks!

 

[L2R]

yeah totally dude

can't wait to see rorschach in action

 

[axl blaze]

Ozy doesn't look regal enough in my opinion.

 

[echo off]

^ yo i was thinking exactly the same thing