Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009)

[patrick]

As far as I know, Keanu is out of the running (and was never a serious candidate).

Jackie Earle Haley is a surprisingly good choice as Rorschach, assuming he can creep me out as much as he did in Little Children.

[Cosmic Bus]

It's official:

Rorschach / Jackie Earle Haley
Ozymandias / Matthew Goode
Nite Owl / Patrick Wilson
Dr. Manhattan / Billy Crudup
Silk Spectre / Malin Akerman
Comedian / Jeffrey Dean Morgan

[jt]

I think Morgan, Crudup and Haley are good casting choices and while there's nothing wrong individually with the others, I find it odd that the age gap between the main cast (who are all supposed to be the same age) is almost 20 years.
Are there really no actors in their forties available who could have played Oz, Spectre and Nite Owl?

[Antoine Doinel]

[lord_clyde]

Is that the poster? If so, awesome!

[Antoine Doinel]

Yep, that's the poster. It was revealed at ComicCon.

[Awesome Welles]

Wow, I've got to get one of those posters asap!

[solaris72]

Are there really no actors in their forties available who could have played Oz, Spectre and Nite Owl?

In an interview Snyder said that he cast young because he intends to work many of the flashbacks from the graphic novel into the film, and it's much easier to believably make someone up to look older than younger.

Another thing I was concerned about for this film is that I kept reading articles saying that Snyder was going to employ the same green-screen virtual backlot technique that he used in 300. But in an interview here he clarifies that he's only using that for the Mars and Antarctica scenes, which seems fine to me.

[Orphic Lycidas]

For all the others following-this-story-way-too-closely-although-we've-already-half-decided-we'll-hate-it, Carla Gugino of "Sin City" fame has just been added to the cast as Sally Jupiter. So far Zack Snyder is somehow making me more and more optimistic that this may be a decent adaption. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach strikes me as a brilliant bit of casting. We'll see.

[davebert]

Having finally watched 300 last night, I grew more uncomfortable afterwards at the thought of Snyder's involvement in Watchmen. He seems too faithful a steward to truly make his own authorial mark (apart from the bad idea to green screen everything), so while I think his faithfulness and generally average-to-positive technical capabilities will make The Watchmen the best Moore film adaptation yet--not that that's saying much--I lost the feeling after 300 that he would do anything more with it, that he was capable of making a film as classic and provoking as the graphic novel, rather than just animating the boxes in the graphic novel for those of us who are not capable of using our imaginations.

[Antoine Doinel]

Storyboards.

Set photos.

[Cold Bishop]

So what's the hope that this movie may turn anything near decent? Has there been any reviews of the script to show up yet?

[klee13]

Having finally watched 300 last night, I grew more uncomfortable afterwards at the thought of Snyder's involvement in Watchmen. He seems too faithful a steward to truly make his own authorial mark (apart from the bad idea to green screen everything), so while I think his faithfulness and generally average-to-positive technical capabilities will make The Watchmen the best Moore film adaptation yet--not that that's saying much--I lost the feeling after 300 that he would do anything more with it, that he was capable of making a film as classic and provoking as the graphic novel, rather than just animating the boxes in the graphic novel for those of us who are not capable of using our imaginations.

Didn't you see Sin City too? Apparently unoriginality is all the rage these days.

To be perfectly honest, it makes no difference to me whether they're making a strict comic book adaptation with no new ideas or the latest Transforma-clover-saw Hour 3 with no new ideas.

That being said, I found 300 to be downright atrocious, and I don't think I'm going to go near any future films of his, even if he did make a so-so Dawn of the Dead remake.

[Svevan]

I greatly dislike the idea that adaptations have to have "new ideas." Faithfulness isn't a problem when your original material is great (for instance, Watchmen). When your original material is 300, well who was surprised that the movie was really good at being really bad?

If PJ's Lord of the Rings is the new standard for adaptations, count me as a huge fan of Snyder's "unoriginality."

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Carla Gugino talks about working on the Watchmen film.

I have to say, the more I read about what Snyder is doing, the more (cautiously) optimistic I get about the final product. It is encouraging that he is trying to stay as faithful to the graphic novel as possible, right down to the little details.

Another set visit report.

Uh oh... From the Hollywood Reporter:

Fox sues over 'Watchmen'
By Leslie Simmons

Feb 12, 2008
20th Century Fox has initiated a legal battle against Warner Bros. over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on the graphic novel "Watchmen."

On Friday, the studio sued Warners, claiming it holds the exclusive copyrights and contract rights to "Watchmen."

Warners plans to release next year a big-screen version of the popular comic book written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. The cast includes Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino and Malin Akerman. It is the studio's policy to not comment on pending litigation.

But Fox seeks to enjoin Warners from going forward with the project, saying in the lawsuit that it seeks to "restrain (Warner Bros. Pictures) from taking actions that violate Fox's copyrights and which stand to forever impair Fox's rights to control the distribution and development of this unique work."

Fox claims that between 1986 and 1990, it acquired all movie rights to the 12-issue DC Comics series and screenplays by Charles McKeown and Sam Hamm. 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 "Watchmen," 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.

The project apparently bounced around to Universal and Paramount before returning to Warners. Now, Fox claims that neither Gordon nor Warners 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.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

[pianocrash]

Fox sues over 'Watchmen'...

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Snyder answers fans' questions. Part 2 is going to be posted on Thursday.

First still...



Hi -res image

[Awesome Welles]

Looks like the same production designer as The Matrix. I'll have to see more to get excited about this. I am avoiding 300 like the plague so as not to get too depressed about the butchery of this classic, but hopefully I'll be proved wrong, Snyder seems to be coming up with good stuff so far.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

More news:

Gerard Butler Talks Black Freighter

It’s been rumoured for a while now, but Gerard Butler has confirmed to Empire that he will be lending his vocal talents to the animated Tales Of The Black Freighter short that Zack Snyder is planning as a companion piece to Watchmen.

The Scottish actor had been linked with a role in Watchmen for a long time, but when nothing materialised, it seemed likely that he wouldn’t be linking up with his 300 director on next year’s eagerly-awaited blockbuster.

But, when Snyder hatched plans to film the Tales Of The Black Freighter comic-within-a-comic that 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, and include it on the Watchmen DVD, Butler’s name surfaced once more.

And, speaking to Empire just the other day, he told us that he had committed to the project.

“I’m going to do the voice of the captain,” said Butler. “They’re going to do it in the style of a Japanese anime and I’m totally stoked.

“I actually read the script before reading the comic book and I thought it was awesome,” continued the 38 year-old. “Then I read the comic book and it’s great. The little bits that have been added define it so much more. It’s very dark and there’s just something so descriptive and scary. It’s this descent into madness but explained in such a sane way that you totally feel it yourself. By the end, my heart was pumping!”

Although considered extraneous to the plot of the movie proper by Snyder and his predecessor, Paul Greengrass, Tales Of The Black Freighter is a story that deepens the impact of Watchmen’s main plot, mirroring the arc of a character we won’t reveal.

And...

Niall Matter is Mothman
Eureka actor confirms his involvement in the upcoming Watchmen movie adaptation

Over the past few months there have been a few unconfirmed Watchmen cast postings over on IMDB. Most recently, freshman actor Niall Matter has been added to IMDB’s cast list as playing the role of unstable masked hero Mothman.

Our staff reached out to Niall to find out if IMDB got it right. He told us…

Yes that's correct… I play the role of Mothman in the upcoming Watchmen film.

Matter’s acting credits include a series lead on the TV show The Best Years, a recurring character on the NBC owned series Eureka as well as roles on Stargate Atlantis and Heaven or Something Like It. His feature film credits include Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief and Summer House.

For those of you not familiar with the Mothman character, he is one of the original “Minutemen,” a group of masked heroes that worked together to fight crime in the late 1930’s and 40’s.

Mothman, whose “civilian” name was Byron Lewis, was not seen much within the pages of the graphic novel and is best known for being the crime fighter whose career took a toll on his mental health, drove him to a drinking problem, and later caused him to be committed to a sanitarium in Maine.

[rumz]

“I actually read the script before reading the comic book and I thought it was awesome,” continued the 38 year-old. “Then I read the comic book and it’s great. The little bits that have been added define it so much more. It’s very dark and there’s just something so descriptive and scary. It’s this descent into madness but explained in such a sane way that you totally feel it yourself. By the end, my heart was pumping!”

Not good...

[Grand Wazoo]

Actors in costume.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Actors in costume.

I'm digging the look of The Comedian and Rorschach as they did very little tweaking to the original designs, but Silk Spectre looks awful! Yikes. Ozymandias is pretty bad too - like an outtake from one of Joel Schumacher's Batman films. I'm still on the fence with Nite Owl's look - at least they got his vehicle right.

[Orphic Lycidas]

Actors in costume.

I'm digging the look of The Comedian and Rorschach as they did very little tweaking to the original designs, but Silk Spectre looks awful! Yikes. Ozymandias is pretty bad too - like an outtake from one of Joel Schumacher's Batman films. I'm still on the fence with Nite Owl's look - at least they got his vehicle right.

I'm with you on all points, though Ozymandias freaks me out more than Silk Spectre (I may get used to her new look, actually) considering his importance in the film. What was wrong with the original design?!!? But the real turn off here is the dark, gritty "Se7en"/"Fight Club" backgrounds. That "nihilism"-type aesthetic has been done to death!! Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian does look fantastic, though. And Rorschach is certainly Rorschach. Ozymandias is the coolest as messed up as he is and is one of the few characters - along with Rorschach - who has a real moral code of conduct. I wonder if Snyder can maintain the complexity of his character without turning him into a one-note crazy. I'm still cautiously optimistic about this project though (says the guy who has never seen "300.")

[Napoleon]

Don't like the revamped Night Owl. I always thought that his pathetic costume in the comic was a reflection of the guys personality. An attempt at theatricality by a naturally introverted guy that had gone horribly wrong.

Ozy's costume is OK, but I don't recall him looking like a mad eyed loon with a thousand yard stare in the comic. It would be very wrong to portray him as a loon as well. The comics moral ambiguity is its strength.

Rorschach is perfect. The others are fine.

The backdrops are, alas, tonally 'wrong'.

[Joe Buck]

The backdrops are, alas, tonally 'wrong'.

I was thinking the same thing.