Watchmen *SPOILERS*


Missy

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I don't know how this will translate to the screen, since;

1) it's much longer than possible in a 2-3 hour film.

2) a lot of the fun of it was the little add-ons that moore threw in, like the article on the pirate-focused comic strips, and the little promotional photo of veidt toys.

3) i remember "league of extraordinary gentlemen."

drq

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I don't know how this will translate to the screen, since;

1) it's much longer than possible in a 2-3 hour film.

2) a lot of the fun of it was the little add-ons that moore threw in, like the article on the pirate-focused comic strips, and the little promotional photo of veidt toys.

3) i remember "league of extraordinary gentlemen."

drq

I think a certain amount of respect will be brought to the project. Unlike LXG, this is a comic that's loved by millions of people -- even non-comic book readers. They (hopefully) understand this, and will be as true to the source material as possible.

Granted the chapter breaks will have to go, but that's the price we, as fans, pay when our favorite comics are brought to the screen. We have to understand that certain bits have to be cut for time or the form.

It'll be good.

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  • 5 months later...
Simon Pegg (co-writer and star of Shaun of the Dead) has been sent the script and is being considered to play Rorschach.

That's simultaneously the weirdest AND the coolest casting idea in history.

Isn't he kind of young for the part though? They're all supposed to be in their forties or so. Personally, I'd have gone for William H. Macy.

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Aronofsky was also supposed to do a Batman: Year One movie. After that didn't happen he wanted to do a Lone Wolf and Cub movie. That didn't happen either. Don't get me wrong. An Aronofsky helmed Watchmen would be nice. I'm just not getting my hopes up yet.

Well... he's out. Paramount wants Watchmen in theaters by summer 2006, and Aronofsky's commitment to The Fountain conflicts with Paramount's timetable. No word on who the new director is.

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Moriarty from Ain't It Cool News had this to say about casting:

I don't think anyone will be terribly shocked by the notion of Brad Pitt as Adrian Viedt/Ozymandius. I doubt he'll play the role in the film, but it makes perfect sense to use him as the 'type' that the producers are looking for.

And...

The choice for the Comedian is a great one, and anyone who has seen any of Lloyd's other recent films as a producer might be able to guess who the hell they're going to cast. And if you pay attention to the signs, you might get some idea about who could end up playing Dan. There's an Oscar-winning actress who wants to play Laurie, and I hope the studio realizes that she'd be worth however many millions of dollars they'd have to pay her, baby.

Which had led some (including IGN FilmForce) to speculate this:

The Comedian: Ron Perlman

Laurie/Silk Spectre II: Hilary Swank

Nite Owl: Joaquin Phoenix (Mel Gibson?)

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Paramount has officially pulled the plug on Watchmen, putting the comic book adaptation into turnaround over the weekend. Producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin were taking the project, with British director Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Supremacy") attached, out to other studios.

Variety says the film, based on the DC Comics series of the same name, came under heavy scrutiny in the wake of Paramount chief Brad Grey's surprise move to replace Donald De Line with Gail Berman as studio president in late March. De Line found out about the change while in London meeting with Greengrass about Watchmen and the need to cut its budget, rumored to be $100 million.

Paramount had been aiming for a summer start but began releasing crews working on pre-production at that point. The film was previously set up at Universal Pictures.

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Watchmen Now at Warner Bros.?

Source: Entertainment Weekly

October 24, 2005

Entertainment Weekly has published an article talking about Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen in which the possible movie is mentioned as well. The magazine claims that Warner Bros. Pictures is now in talks to pick up the project after it was dropped by Paramount Pictures. The mag asked the creators and influenced talent about the movie:

In the late '80s, producer Joel Silver (The Matrix) tried to make a film adaptation with director Terry Gilliam. Robin Williams and Richard Gere were rumored to be interested. But the project imploded primarily over budget, and the end of the Cold War deprived Watchmen of its political relevance. But in 2001, the comic found new life thanks to a zeitgeist-mining script by David Hayter (X-Men). Paramount was set to roll earlier this year with The Bourne Supremacy's Paul Greengrass at the helm — until a regime change at the studio sent it into turnaround. Still, says producer Larry Gordon, ''We have every reason to believe we will eventually make the movie.'' By the way, Moore doesn't mind: He's adamantly opposed to Watchmen's adaptation for artistic, business, and personal reasons — a position that hardened after Fox's limp 2003 version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen — and plans to give any film royalties to Gibbons.

GIBBONS

I remember meeting with Joel Silver, who wanted to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Manhattan: ''He's gonna be Arnie!'' We said, ''Well, he's got the physique, but the German accent...'' He said, ''Doesn't matter!'' It didn't come to anything with Joel.

SAM HAMM (first Watchmen screenwriter)

I was coming off writing Batman when I was asked to take a whack at it. I thought it too unwieldy to compress into two hours. The comic really is a spectacular piece of architecture. Trying to replicate it [was]just impossible.

HAYTER

What I pitched to Larry was actually a miniseries for HBO. But it would have cost $100 million. When I mapped it out as a two-hour movie, I looked at how Peter Jackson broke down The Lord of the Rings. My first draft was 178 pages, which was encouraging; it told me a screenplay was actually possible. One thing that has tripped up Hollywood is the Cold War setting, when there was a sense of impending doom. With 9/11, unfortunately, we got it right back again. So we did update it.

MOORE

David Hayter's screenplay was as close as I could imagine anyone getting to Watchmen. That said, I shan't be going to see it. My book is a comic book. Not a movie, not a novel. A comic book. It's been made in a certain way, and designed to be read a certain way: in an armchair, nice and cozy next to a fire, with a steaming cup of coffee. Personally, I think that would make for a lovely Saturday night.

The full article is available in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly.

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Who Wants Watchmen?

Helmer desires director's chair.

by Stax

March 1, 2006 - According to The IESB, one filmmaker in particular is seeking to land in the director's chair for the long-in-development big-screen adaptation of the comic book Watchmen. While attending the New York Comic Con, James McTeigue, director of the forthcoming V for Vendetta, revealed his interest in helming Watchmen.

McTeigue seems to have a decent shot at scoring the gig should V for Vendetta prove as popular at the box office as it has thus far with critics. And since Vendetta is also based on an Alan Moore-penned title, McTeigue certainly can make the claim that he can bring Moore's work to the big screen without sacrificing its integrity.

Whether Warner Bros. actually has McTeigue on their short list of directors to succeed Paul Greengrass, who was attached to direct back when Paramount was developing Watchmen, remains to be seen. But if Vendetta is a hit, it's a no-brainer that he will make the list. Directing Watchmen might also offer McTeigue the opportunity to prove wrong the critics who are calling him a mere front man for the Wachowskis on Vendetta.

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From Newsarama.com:

ZACH SNYDER TO DIRECT WATCHMEN FOR WARNERS

It’s a story that clearly seems to be a challenge to adapt to film, but now, according to The Hollywood Reproter, that’s what director Zach Snyder’s job is, as the young director was named by Warner Bros. as the helmer of the movie version of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons classic graphic novel.

Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin are producing with Alex Tse writing a script based on the comic. According to the trade, Warner Bros. executives were impressed with Snyder’s handling of the adaptation for film of Frank Miller’s 300, and that landed him the job.

If Snyder stays on the project (and given that the film version of Watchmen has seen Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Greengrass and screenwriter David Hayter, as well as three studios attached at one time or another, that’s a realistic statement, not a sarcastic one), he’ll have his hands full from the word go – as the press will surely chase Moore down for quotes about his dislike of adaptations of his works, as well as cutting what is arguably one of the more complex examples of comic literature into a two hour film that has commercial appeal.

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"We're getting ready to turn a script that we like into this studio," says Snyder. "They're pretty excited about it…I think the script that Alex (Tse) has done for us is the closest to the graphic novel it's been [since development started], for better or for worse. I feel like Alex has done an awesome job. It's keeping all the things that are cool about the comic".

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=19672

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Artist John Cassaday has confirmed for Wizard Universe that he is doing costume design work for the “Watchmen” movie, becoming the second high-profile comic book artist attached to the film, to be directed by Zack Snyder (“300”).

“I’ve turned down film design work before, but this was ‘Watchmen,’” said Cassaday. “That’s different.”

Cassaday, who won two Eisner Awards and a Wizard Fan Award this year for his work with Joss Whedon on Astonishing X-Men, is also splitting his time with directorial responsibilities for the screen adaptation of his creator-owned property I Am Legion.

Cassaday joins artist Adam Hughes, who confirmed just weeks ago that he is also doing design work for “Watchmen,” the adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ classic DC miniseries.

While no release date has been set for the film, Snyder told Wizard he’d like to begin production in the spring of 2007.

http://www.wizarduniverse.com/movies/other/002738708.cfm

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You know why that's a great casting? Upon seeing his name, I said, "Who?" And that's how it should be with Rorschach. A huge star should not portray him because

it will be too obvious that the crazy redhead will have a larger part later on

.

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The script is a three hour movie right now without the side story about the pirates. It will have an R rating. It will not be updated to take place now.

Brilliant! The pirate thing would not translate well to screen IMO.

I still have faith in this. If it is cut to two hours I may watch it reluctantly but if it's kept above the two and a half hour level I'll stick to being anxious for this one.

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Latino Review's chronic scooper 'El Mayimbe' reports that actress Malin Akerman of Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and many upcoming movies including The Invasion and The Heartbreak Kid has landed the plum role of Sally Jupiter aka The Silk Spectre in Zack (300) Snyder's take on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen. She plays the former crimefighter who lives with the powerful entity Dr. Manhattan (to be played by Billy Crudup).

malinwatchmen2kt0.jpg

Yes, this is the picture they decided to use for the article.

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Unless they're merging mother Sally and daughter Laurie into one character and dropping the whole generational hero thing, this would be Laurie Jupiter.

Anyway, I was about to complain about her age, but then I came to realize two things:

01. Laurie was always supposed to look younger, hence the reason Doctor Manhattan left Janey Slater for Sally.

02. Malin Akerman isn't as young as I thought. She's actually 29. In Watchmen Laurie is 36, so the difference isn't that great and actually suits the "Doctor Manhattan left Janey for someone younger" storyline a little better.

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