Watchmen

[MacGuffin]

'Watchmen' unmasked for Par, Aronofsky
Source: Hollywood Reporter

"Watchmen," the seminal DC Comics limited series, has landed at Paramount Pictures. Darren Aronofsky will develop and direct the project, which is being written by David Hayter. Aronofsky's producing partner Eric Watson will produce with Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin. "Watchmen," created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, was released as a 12-issue comic book in 1986 and is one of the most critically acclaimed series in the genre. The comic is credited for redefining the superhero genre and is often referred to as the "War and Peace" of comic books. It is a crime-conspiracy story that provided the first realistic look at the behind-the-heroics lives of superhero archetypes.

[edison]

Darren Aronofsky is officially off WATCHMEN as director

Now, the good news here is that the reason he left involves timing issues. See, THE FOUNTAIN is about to start principal photography. We're talking about a matter of days here. And I love THE FOUNTAIN as a project. Paramount just couldn't wait, though. They want to have WATCHMEN in a theater by the summer of '06, no matter what. That means they need a filmmaker who can be ready to shoot long before Aronofsky would be ready.

aintitcool.com

[SHAFTR]

Darren Aronofsky is officially off WATCHMEN as director

Now, the good news here is that the reason he left involves timing issues. See, THE FOUNTAIN is about to start principal photography. We're talking about a matter of days here. And I love THE FOUNTAIN as a project. Paramount just couldn't wait, though. They want to have WATCHMEN in a theater by the summer of '06, no matter what. That means they need a filmmaker who can be ready to shoot long before Aronofsky would be ready.

aintitcool.com

awful news

[polkablues]

Paramount just couldn't wait, though. They want to have WATCHMEN in a theater by the summer of '06, no matter what.

HAHAHAHAHA!

Good thing I wasn't holding my breath.

[modage]

This, combined with the Watchmen movie that is bound to happen someday, and bound to be directed by somebody who cares passionately about it, is a good sign for Alan Moore fans.

Snyder in Talks to Direct Watchmen
Source: Ain't-It-Cool-News March 25, 2006

Ain't-It-Cool-News reports that Dawn of the Dead and 300 director Zack Snyder is in talks with Warner Bros. to helm the big screen adaptation of Watchmen, produced by Lloyd Levin and Lawrence Gordon.

Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were previously attached to direct the project when it was at Paramount Pictures. The film was put into turnaround by Paramount in the summer of 2005 and picked up by Warners later that year. Warner Bros. is the third studio the movie has been at - Universal Pictures originally had the rights.

Watchmen, created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, was released as a 12-issue comic book in 1986 and is one of the most critically acclaimed series in the genre.

The comic is a crime-conspiracy story that provided the first realistic look at the behind-the-heroics lives of superhero archetypes.

[polkablues]

Watchmen timeline:

Darren Aronofsky - 

Paul Greengrass - 

Zack Snyder - 


Future predictions:

Brett Ratner - 

Uwe Boll -

[squints]

Watchmen timeline:

Darren Aronofsky - 

Paul Greengrass - 

Zack Snyder - 


Future predictions:

Brett Ratner - 

Uwe Boll -

genius

[MacGuffin]

Horror flick director on duty for 'Watchmen'

Zach Snyder, who made his feature filmmaking debut with 2004's "Dawn of the Dead," has come aboard to develop and direct "Watchmen," based on the seminal DC Comics saga of a vigilante superhero.

Alex Tse, who worked with director Spike Lee on the Showtime cable network production "Sucker Free City," is writing a script for the long-gestating "Watchmen" project, now in the pipeline at Warner Bros. Pictures.

"Watchmen" is one of the most critically acclaimed comic book titles, credited with redefining the superhero genre by exploring the private lives of its costumed crime-fighting protagonists.

In November, "Watchmen" appeared as the only graphic novel on Time magazine's list of the 100 best novels since 1923.

Set in an alternate America, "Watchmen" follows the costumed hero Rorschach, who is living a vigilante lifestyle because most masked crime-fighters have retired or been outlawed. While investigating a murder, he learns that a former masked-hero colleague has been killed, prompting him to begin investigating a possible conspiracy.

"Watchmen" has a Hollywood development history almost as epic as the story the comic tells.

The project has seen such studios as Fox, Universal and Paramount come and go and has seduced and vexed such filmmakers as Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Greengrass and screenwriter David Hayter.

Sources say Snyder impressed Warner Bros. with his work on "300," an upcoming adaptation of a Frank Miller graphic novel that he directed and co-wrote.

Snyder shot the movie -- a Greek epic about the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. -- on soundstages in Montreal using partial sets and greenscreens, similar in technique to Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City." The film is slated for release in 2007.

[MacGuffin]

Exclusive: Snyder Says No Sequels for Watchmen
The entire tale will unfold in one film.
Source: IGN

Director Zack Snyder has made a feature-film name for himself with genre projects, debuting on the big screen with 2004's Dawn of the Dead remake and currently putting the finishing touches on his sophomore effort, an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel 300. In New York this week to discuss that film, Snyder also sat down with IGN to talk about his next movie — another comic book adaptation — this time of DC Comics' Watchmen. He says that he expects that film to get underway very soon.

"It's the only thing I'm really working on right now, so if I don't do that I've got to find something else!" he laughs, adding that once he completes 300 he will go directly into full gear on Watchmen. "There's no break, hopefully none, between 300 and Watchmen. They'll just roll us right over. We'll probably start Watchmen and then come back and do publicity for 300. Right now we're still finishing 300, so I'd say I've got another three weeks of shots waiting to come in. And then in the meantime I'm trying to maybe make a commercial, maybe make some money, which is cool!"

The original comic book, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, told an epic superhero story that many in the industry have long thought to be un-filmable (the movie project has undergone several permutations in its years in development). Snyder believes that the key to the movie is to stay true to Moore's original vision, even if by necessity certain aspects of the story must be cut due to running time constraints. His Watchmen will not be stretched over a series of films with sequels and the like, despite the trend of other comic-to-film adaptations like Spider-Man and X-Men.

"It's a labor of love, and I've wanted to try to get back to the source material as much as I could without it being, of course, a six-hour long movie. And I would say the fans are probably going, 'What do you mean? You say that like it's a bad thing!'" he smiles. "I will tell you that the draft of the script is long. It's so long in fact that when we turned it in, we turned 'The Black Freighter' stuff in as a separate script so as not to scare them too much. We were like, 'Here's your script. Oh, here's your other script!' They were like, 'Oh, great!'"

"The Black Freighter" elements of Watchmen are one aspect that could be cut from the film if need be, though Snyder is already investigating avenues of release for an extended cut of the film.

"I want 'The Black Freighter' stuff in it," he says. "It will all depend on how [the studio] likes it. I feel like they don't really question it, like, 'Why, what is this?' But we've designed the movie so that it works without it. We have the places designed where that story would go and then if they want it, [they have it] for like extended theatrical or limited theatrical, or definitely for DVD. That's the one cool thing we have is DVD, and in my opinion it's not exploited nearly enough. [We could use that] to create the three-hour version of Watchmen. And [as a director] I'm totally fine with that, but I feel like that's a battle I haven't lost yet, so I'm not going to concede to it yet."

Like 300 and Sin City before it, Watchmen will likely utilize green screen backgrounds at times, with the final scenes being rendered in CGI. But unlike those earlier films, it will also feature standard scenes with real backgrounds and sets.

"We're doing some conceptual discussions about production methodology, things of that nature, things like, 'Will it be a green screen movie or will it be a real movie?' And I think that we have kind of found the reality of the movie," the director explains. "There are moments that are green screen, moments that are real. Basically I think with Watchmen it'll take every trick, every tool to get this world, this Watchmen world. I feel like probably the green screen stuff is going to be [the] Mars and Antarctica [scenes], and — of course — Vietnam. All that stuff is in the movie right now, absolutely."

Snyder and his production team are also discussing what technology they should use when depicting Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, who in the world of Watchmen are still running the country in the mid-'80s, when the comic takes place.

"The whole trick to me is how do you do Nixon and Kissinger," he says. "It's like that fine line. I do like the idea of using some newsreel footage, but I also like the idea of making history into cinema, and trying to get someone and make him look as much like Nixon as I can, get someone and make him look as much like Kissinger as I can, so you sort of feel this cinematic version of reality, if that makes sense. One of the early battles I had [with the studio] was getting it set in 1985, getting them to stay with the Cold War, getting them to feel like Nixon is an asset to the movie, to feel like those elements match, and I'm a huge advocate of that approach. I think I have [won that battle] right now. They told me when we first talked about it, 'It's going to be the war on terror, it's going to be 2007, blah, blah, blah.' And I agreed, and I went off to do it, and of course I came back and it was 1985. I didn't try to be subversive, but that's what wound up being right."

So while Snyder and his writer Alex Tse have made strides on the project, they continue to tinker with the script and dance the dance with the studio until production starts.

"You know how it works," laughs Snyder. "The studio says, 'Make us a movie,' we give them a script, and they go, 'Hmmm, really?' And we have to go, 'Really!' So that's the part that we're at right now. And I think, honestly, I'm really happy with the version of the script we have right now. Alex has killed it and done an amazing job writing this script."

[MacGuffin]

Zack Snyder on Watchmen's Progress
Source: Superhero Hype!

With less than a month to go until Zack Snyder's movie based on Frank Miller's 300 hits theatres, Snyder and his cast gathered in L.A. for the ubiquitous press junket, where the director answered some of Superhero Hype!'s questions about his next comic adaptation, based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen:

SHH!: What's going on with "Watchmen?"
Zack Snyder: We're trying to get a budget together now that I feel like the movie is in a very cool place. I think the script is starting to become pretty cool. I've been talking to some actors--I'm not going to say who--but it's cool, because in some ways you can get real actors. You don't have to go Hollywood. So that's all going along. I've been drawing away, so I think it's coming along. They have talked about maybe shooting in the summer.

SHH!: Is the budget for "Watchmen" set right now or is there some sort of plus or minus depending on how well "300" does?
Snyder: That's theoretical. I believe that is probably reflecting reality. I don't know that for sure. It's not set right now. Maybe that's a coincidence, maybe not.

SHH!: What's been the delay with the movie? 10 years ago it was a Joel Silver film.
Snyder: I can only thank God that they haven't gotten it together yet. I think the delay is that they haven't known what it was. I set the movie in 1985 and I have the luxury of being far enough away from 1985 so that that is a viable idea. I think what happened in the past was that when you're only five years away from 1985, it's a weird time to make a period piece that took place three years ago, but studios don't get that. There has been a push I think on the other scripts that exist about trying to update the movie or trying to make it take place in present day and things of that nature. I think by setting it 1985, by having the Cold War, having Nixon, having all that stuff, you sort of reinvigorate what the story is about. It allows all the metaphors to sort of erect. But, if you set the movie in modern times, you're basically saying it's the war on terror right is the thing. Then the movie is asking me, "oh Zack, what do you think of the war on terror? What's your take on it?" Who gives a f**k about what I think about the war on terror? That's not why people go to the movies. I think that what Alan in his book, the comment he's made about authority and government and all those things, maybe if you make that movie right what that has to say makes people think about what's happening maybe now or in their own lives. That's my hope for what the movie could be.

SHH!: How has the universal praise for "300" assisted you with making "Watchmen" and possibly other projects?
Snyder: I can't say it hasn't helped a lot. What it does do [is that] people have said to me, "What's going on with "Watchmen?" You've got to make sure you don't f**k that up. What can I do to help?" And I said, "Go see '300.'" The truth is, "300" to the studio is a graphic novel movie. It's not a movie that they necessarily understand exactly when I pitch it on paper. They feel in some ways the same about "Watchmen." They don't understand why it's not "Fantastic 4." I have to remind them that it's much more "Strangelove" than it is "Fantastic 4" which they don't like hearing, but they believe that I know, and in that way, it helps. When they finally saw this movie, I think they felt, "Wow, we didn't know this was the movie you were necessarily making, but we like this movie." Maybe that will apply to "Watchmen."

[modage]

Test Image from Watchmen hidden in 300 Uncut trailer...


VIEW IT IN ALL ITS GLORY HERE

somehow seeing this unrated 300 trailer and this fullblown incredible Rorshach image, Watchmen just jumped into like the Top 5 movies i would die to see. 

[Pubrick]

yeah, he is probably capable of making it LOOK adequately awesome, but it could still be 90% slow motion with all the characters watered down to a couple of monologues and a nipple or two for each Silk Spectre.

show me dr manhattan and a structure as mind blowing as the graphic novel (including tales of the black freighter) and i'll wash snyder's feet with my tears.

[polkablues]

(including tales of the black freighter)

Word is, Snyder's dead set on including the Tales of the Black Freighter stuff.  The question is, will those sections still serve their original purpose when translated to film, or will they just end up as DVD extras, stripped from the theatrical cut after test audiences shout "WE DON'T GET IT"?

[MacGuffin]

WonderCon 07: Watchmen Start Date
But will the adaptation be sanitized for the mainstream?

It's been known for quite some time now that director Zack Snyder would be following up his adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel 300 with yet another graphic novel adaptation, Watchmen. And as the publicity tour for the "sword and sandals" actioner nears its end, production on the latter film may finally get underway.

While promoting 300 at WonderCon 2007, Snyder let loose—albeit rather vaguely—his intended start date for the Watchmen production.

"I want to make it into a movie. The studio wants me to make it into a movie. We're going to try and make it into a movie," said Snyder, playfully. "We're talking about shooting it at the end of the summer. So that's as good as I can give you — it's trying to happen. It's a process."

The biggest obstacle Snyder must overcome, aside from adapting the rather dense comic book source material into live-action, is the ignorance of Hollywood executives.

"The studio says, 'R-rated superhero movie. What the hell is that? There's no such thing,'" revealed Snyder. Obviously, they haven't read Watchmen.

[MacGuffin]

'Watchmen' feeding off '300' spoils
Source: Hollywood Reporter

"Who watches the Watchmen?" was the tagline of the seminal 1986 Alan Moore miniseries about a group of heroes investigating the murder of one of their own. In 2007, in the warm glow of "300's" blockbuster opening, the answer could be "everybody."

Zack Snyder, the director of Warner Bros. Pictures' "300," has been developing "Watchmen" at Warners since June, and during the recent press tour for the Spartan epic, he has openly said he is aiming for a summer shoot for "Watchmen."

Snyder's enthusiasm for the project spilled out online late last week when a Snyder-created image of one of the "Watchmen" characters was discovered embedded in a DVD trailer distributed by marketing street teams and was posted all over the Web.

Street Wise Marketing was charged with running a campaign using tactics from a community Web site to handing out Spartan condoms ("Prepare for glory," read the packaging) and a DVD of the "300" trailer that was a sensation at last year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. Inserted at the 1:52 mark is an image of Rorschach, the hero with an inkblot mask, a trench coat and hat, with a gray city behind him. According to sources, the shot is a test image of what that character might look like. At this point, the movie is not greenlighted, nor is it cast.

Street Wise knew of the insert but was asked not to disclose it. The trailer was in the hands of viewers for about a week before someone noticed it and posted it on YouTube.

Adapting "Watchmen" has stymied such filmmakers as Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass and such studios as Universal and Paramount. The scope and density of the source material -- the only graphic novel Time Magazine listed among the 100 best novels since 1923 -- is vast and budgetary concerns were among the reasons the project was put into turnaround by Paramount in early 2005.

"To do it right, you need a huge budget," an insider said.

Sources said Snyder's vision for the movie would have the project in the $150 million range. The studio, on the other hand, wants to keep it less than $100 million. Snyder's "300," based on another award-winning comic book, cost about $65 million to make and grossed $70 million during the weekend, breaking records and surprising many at the studio.