Zach Snyder to Direct Watchmen

[ShaneHelms]

Alex Tse Writing Watchmen Script
Source: The Hollywood Reporter June 23, 2006

While it was confirmed a few months ago that 300 director Zach Snyder would helm Warner Bros. Pictures' big screen Watchmen adaptation, The Hollywood Reporter adds that Alex Tse is writing the script.



There's Potential in Snyder. :up:

[blind_fury]

I enjoyed Dawn of the Dead (2004) but I don't know if he is capable of making an epic Watchman movie.

[ShaneHelms]

I think if he can handle 300, Surely he can take on Watchmen.

[french joker]

Greengrass was a better choice

[blind_fury]

I just looked up Alex Tse credits on IMDB and have one question. How in the hell is this guy qualified to write the script of one of the most respected graphic novels in history. Because he wrote the screenplay for "Sucker Free City"? :confused:

This is unacceptable. :down

[Katsuro]

What happened to David Hayter? Didn't he write a script for Watchmen that Alan Moore said is the closest thing you could get to the graphic novel? Besides, he's freakin' Solid Snake.

[Antonello Blueberry]

I still hope that Alex Tse will only do a minor revision of David Hayter's good script.

[Eddie Dean]

Greengrass was a better choice
Yeah, he was.

[Edward Brock]

I'm frankly shocked that their apparently ignoring Hayter's script. I heard they were going to make a few re-writes to it, but these are truly dissapointing news.

Also I hope WB didn't go for Snyder with the idea that he'll shoot the whole movie like 300. That style is not right at all for Watchmen.

[The Batman]

its very ****ed up that they chose to pick a new writer after all the time and effort hayter put into it. Hell, they're wasting time as well, as they've got the perfefct script for the movie right there.

[Movies205]

I like Snyder better, because he seems to have a better visual style

[Edward Brock]

I guess so but Greengrass had a pretty good idea about the issues tackled in the novel.

[Joker]

if this is as bad as DOTD2k4 it'll be in the running for one of the worst comic books movies to date :o

[Edward Brock]

Well, er...
It wasnt' that bad IMHO. :o

[Johnichi Chiba]

Hopefully 300 will show us that he can handle making a good epic and stay faithful to the source material.

[ToddIsDead]

I'm kind of dissapointed about them apparently not using the David Hayter script, but I want to see 300 before I pass too much judgement on Snyder. Although the DotD remake was only mindless zombie action.

[Edward Brock]

Hm... maybe there's still hope (http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23685):

Told Ya So! Zack Snyder Confirmed For WATCHMEN!!
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Well, we called it back in March, but now it’s official. Zack Snyder’s the man for WATCHMEN. In that article, I hinted at the identity of a writer who was brought in to go through every single one of Hayter’s drafts as well as the book to try and really streamline this thing. As this film has bounced from studio to studio, the script picked up a little bit of scar tissue, residual material left over from notes that were executed to try to get that ever-elusive greenlight. Alex Tse has been brought in to try and strip all of that away and just get back to the cleanest version of Alan Moore’s WATCHMEN possible.
That 300 editing room visit is finally cleared for publication, so expect to see that in the days ahead. It’s great stuff, and as soon as I walked out of that room, I was sold on Snyder as the guy who can bring this epic story to the screen. We’ll see.

http://foruns.dvdmania.co.pt/images/smiles/icon_nails.gif

[ToddIsDead]

If what Moriarty says is true, it puts me to a bit more ease, but I think we're all just going to have to play the wait-and-see with this.

[CrimsonMist]

damn. Hayter's script was great. It just needed the most minor of tweakings and it was would have been PERFECT.

I dont like this at all. Atleast get Hayter to supervise the new guy or something. I really dont want a generic superhero film with this movie.

[Edward Brock]

The problem is Hayter has said that he doesn't want to get involved in the script any more. He sounds prety much sick and tired of it all.

must be too busy voicing Snake... :o

[Rez]

Which is too bad, considering the writing of the script moved him even higher up from his Demi-God status.

[ToddIsDead]

With the way they kept shafting him and the progress of the movie, I can't blame him for being tired of the crap and not wanting to deal with it anymore. It just sucks that we could all potentialy suffer through a sub-par adaptation.

[The BatDude]

Some other Watchmen news, it might be old but it sure as hell is new to me

Who might succeed Paul Greengrass?
(http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/698/698526p1.html)

Helmer desires director's chair (http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/692/692908p1.html)

[Darth Nata]

I think it would be cool if Warner Bros hired Chris Nolan and Bryan Singer on as producers to guide Zack Snyder.

[Assassin32]

We'll just have to wait and see on this one.

[Carmine Falcone]

Why is the Hayter script so great? Didn't he change the ending?

[Darthphere]

I hope Zach can pull it off, and he has a solid script to work off of. I guess we'll know when 300 comes out if hes up to task.

[Motown Marvel]

hmmmmm.

[Gogo Bananas]

Just say no to a Watchmen feature film.
Root for an HBO miniseries.

[Darthphere]

The funny thing about Watchmen is I think it has too much to be in a movie, and a too little to warrant a mini-series.

[Chaos Bringer]

Greengrass was a better choice

You sure?
DOTD was such a great film for a number of remarkable reasons...
Snyder can seriously create tension in a non-cheese way. I think he knows how to shoot real people and can tell a great story. I kinda wish he was given XMen. I'm very happy with this choice.
Snyder is a mighty director.

[ToddIsDead]

You sure?
DOTD was such a great film for a number of remarkable reasons...
Snyder can seriously create tension in a non-cheese way. I think he knows how to shoot real people and can tell a great story. I kinda wish he was given XMen. I'm very happy with this choice.
Snyder is a mighty director.
I kind of agree with you. I think he is a very talented director that unfortunately got stuck with a movie that no one wanted to see for his first movie. Even though it was an unwanted remake, it was still pretty good.

[Assassin32]

Why is the Hayter script so great? Didn't he change the ending?

I was wondering the same thing. . .

[Motown Marvel]

Why is the Hayter script so great? Didn't he change the ending?

no, not really...well kind of...it was reworked in a way that would work better for film, but the results are the same. like, the idea of a giant genetically manufactured space alien transported to and exploding in NY killing half the city isnt gonna be bought by a general audience. that sort of thing works in a comic...but not so much in a movie. the ending still has half of NY being destroyed, but just in a different fashion....i forget exactly how its done, but...

[Gogo Bananas]

No matter what they do, Alan Moore will whine and disown the project.

[Assassin32]

no, not really...well kind of...it was reworked in a way that would work better for film, but the results are the same. like, the idea of a giant genetically manufactured space alien transported to and exploding in NY killing half the city isnt gonna be bought by a general audience. that sort of thing works in a comic...but not so much in a movie. the ending still has half of NY being destroyed, but just in a different fashion....i forget exactly how its done, but...

What about Veidt getting killed? Wasn't that in Hayter's script? Because **** that ****.

[CrimsonMist]

No matter what they do, Alan Moore will whine and disown the project.


actually, he seems rather sane about the Watchmen movie. Im friends with Kurt at Cinescape, and he interviewed Alan Moore about a month or so ago. I asked him to ask Moore about his thoughts on the Watchmen script by Hayter. He liked it...thought it was as faithful as they could get it, but still wont see it. But he was calm about it.

and about Viedt dying, i believe that's only in Draft 3

[Gogo Bananas]

And I betcha they work 9/11 and terrorists into it somehow, just to modernize it.

[CrimsonMist]

And I betcha they work 9/11 and terrorists into it somehow, just to modernize it.


no, they didn't. It's as faithful as you'll ever see. None of that terrorist, 9/11 crap. It's strictly the comic book.

a thread was posted, with a link to download the 3rd draft. So ask around, someone can send it to you.

[War Party]

July 13, 2006 - IGN FilmForce has learned more about the nature of screenwriter Alex Tse's work on Watchmen. Zack Snyder is attached to direct (http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/714/714164p1.html) the long-in-development comic book movie for Warner Bros.


Tse, a relative newcomer, was recently brought on to rework the script, a move that struck some fans as curious since David Hayter's screenplay adaptation (http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/545/545644p1.html) had been widely lauded by those who read it.

Sources close to the production advised IGN that Tse's task is to essentially knit together two of Hayter's drafts, which are said to represent his best efforts on the project from when Paul Greengrass was attached to direct.

There's no word yet if or when Watchmen might finally lurch forward into actual production, or how the solid but less than spectacular box office results for Superman Returns might affect other comic book movies in development at Warners.

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/718/718386p1.html

[ToddIsDead]

Awesome news. So I guess they're still going with Hayter's script and he'll get a writing credit and everything.

[Edward Brock]

This was pretty fast. There's already a review on Alex Tse's script on Latino Review (http://latinoreview.com/scriptreview.php?id=27).

The good news is, this draft wasn't created from scratch. It is based on Hayter's script, with a few changes. The bad news? Those changes are mainly new action sequences and an altered ending.

All I have to say is... why. Why do that? Why dumb it down?


Stupid me. This is Hollywood after all.

[ToddIsDead]

That's kind of depressing. :(

[CrimsonMist]

that review depresses me. Why do they have to change something that's perfect? this Tse character is worthless. He's taken something that was great to begin with and ruined it. WB is now just whipping a dead horse.

[War Party]

Disappoints me too.

[WallCrawl]

By now we really shouldn't be surprised that the suits have called for more unecessary action sequences.

But it doesn't make it any less disheartening. :(

[IKnowSomeJudo]

In Tse’s draft we see Rorschach, the crazy vigilante, fighting cops in almost every single scene that he’s in.As if Rorschach's character wasn't already pretty washed-down in Hayter's draft. Most of his political views were reduced to "F*** tha Police", anyway. Now this. Fantastic. It's Sam Hamm all over again.

[Assassin32]

Well. . . none of us can say this is a suprise.

[Edward Brock]

More from Snyder at CC:

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23955
(...)QUINT: I have to bring up WATCHMEN before they pull me away...

ZACH SNYDER: Ah, yeah. Of course.

QUINT: The one question more than any other that is on fan's minds is how the hell are you going to fit that entire story into one movie?

ZACH SNYDER: Hrmm...

QUINT: I know you probably don't want to go into much detail, but...

ZACH SNYDER: No, no, no, no, no... I don't mind talking about it. I love it. It's an awesome thing. It's a crazy and strange turn of events that it ends up on my desk with someone going, "Oh, you want to make this into a movie?" I'm like, "What? Are you kidding me?" Seems like a mistake, but also one that I'm not going to tell anyone about because, you know, I'm probably over-sensitive... maybe too much. You know, my experience with the material so far and the different drafts that had been written, including Alex (Tse)'s latest and the book itself... When I was introduced to it in-motion. I hadn't read the other drafts when it was in development.

Now, when we started they were like, "Hey, what do you think?" Boom, here's all the drafts in a big pile next to me.

Basically I got the book and the script and put them next together. For me, my copy of WATCHMEN is highlighted and things are written all over it. My first order of business, and it's a thing that I can't say anyone has got a handle on, except for me, is getting the ideas of the book into the screenplay. The (David) Hayter draft to some extent does and Alex's to some extent does, but I don't think anyone has cracked it.

The problem of WATCHMEN isn't the mystery of who is killing who, it's not the love story, it's not the betrayals or anything like that. I think the problem is that the screenwriters, and maybe rightly so... the mechanics is the first thing they worry about, you know? Of course, if you don't have the mechanics you can't hang story on it.

For me, the work of WATCHMEN is you take those stories and you figure out how you get at the essence of the book. The book is transcendent of the story. The philosophy of the book... that's what needs to get put back in the screenplays, in my opinion.

I'm waiting to see what Alex does next. I think beyond that my hope is to... now that we're finishing 300 hundred, my hope is to really set some good time aside to really roll up my sleeves and go, "Not only here's the ideas, here's the frames I love. This HAS to be in the movie..."

QUINT: Are you wanting to go for a more realistic, less stylized vision of the world?

ZACH SNYDER: No, I don't know that the filmmakers in the past who have been attached to this... I just don't know what their take on the actual frames were. I gotta believe that they kind of really... I mean, I don't know Paul (Greengrass). I like his movies, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would take a graphic novel and film it, you know what I'm saying? It's going to be verite-ish. Whereas for me, my style is, like, graphic novel. I want to be able to get as much as the graphic novel in the movie as I can. I want the experience of watching the movie to be similar to the experience of reading the graphic novel, but also be its own thing.

I think Alan (Moore) has said himself that the object of a book is to be a book, to be read by the fire and curl up with on a Saturday night. The object of a movie is different.

QUINT: Sometimes they mix together, though.

ZACH SNYDER: Absolutely!

QUINT: With a movie like Sin City and hopefully 300, the fans don't want to see someone's alternate take on this material. They want to see moving versions of their beloved comics. They want to see Frank Miller's SIN CITY, Frank Miller's 300.

ZACH SNYDER: Absolutely, absolutely. But I think the trick is... What we've done with 300, the connective tissue that a movie needs... that's the thing. The connective tissue has to be in the spirit of what was drawn. That's how you make the experience continue.

There you have it, squirts. That's it. Short, I know, but hopefully you have an inkling of what this guy will do. If WATCHMEN looks half as cool and gorgeous and breath-taking as the footage of 300 I saw today, then we're in for a classic.

Hope you enjoyed the chat! Back with more soon!!!

Funny how his vision differs from Greengrass's. He saw the movie more as a conspiracy theory thing, focusing more on the public's fears (Cold War/9-11) while Snyder seems more interested on the crime mistery side of it.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to make of his comments. On the one hand it seems like Tse's script was made without his involvment, and he makes it sound like it definitely won't be the shooting script. On the other hand, his comment on Hayter's. After what Moore said about it, what he says sounds a bit dubious. He makes it sound like he might use a few of Tse's new scenes on Hayter's draft. And all this talk about style... does he intend to shoot the whole movie in green screen? :confused:

[ToddIsDead]

I'm still not sure what to think of all this. i'm glad that it seems as though he isn't completely happy with Tse's script, but... I just don't know. I'll just wait and see how this develops.

[Agentsands77]

A B- WATCHMEN script doesn't cut it, so Alex Tse's script better be scrapped.

What happened to the praiseworthy work by David Hayter - Alan Moore said his draft captured the essence of his work better than he ever thought possible!

[Johnichi Chiba]

Here's a link to the Tse Watchmen script: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OPNJAKEE

I'm reading it and its pretty frustrating. There's so much unnecessary things thrown in there.

[Agentsands77]

Thanks for the link.

Yeah... it's hardly the masterpiece adaptation that we're looking for.

[Motown Marvel]

guh, that script review makes me want to cry. though it seems snyder has his head on straight, and tse wrote this draft without snyder's involvement....it seems like snyder will be much more involved next time round. and yeah, it seems obvious to give tse the boot and bring back hayter.

[keatonisbatman]

I think it would be cool if Warner Bros hired Chris Nolan and Bryan Singer on as producers to guide Zack Snyder.

Watchmen is a little above BATS/SUPES. Watchmen needs a whack job in the vein of classic Tim Burton to make this on again/off again project a reality.

[Motown Marvel]

Watchmen is a little above BATS/SUPES. Watchmen needs a whack job in the vein of classic Tim Burton to make this on again/off again project a reality.

burton would destroy a watchmen movie.

[Darthphere]

That is so true.

[ToddIsDead]

I'd kill myself if Burton became involved in this movie in any sort of capacity.

[Lex Luthor]

I'm going to have to agree with the general consensus that Burton would do more bad than good with The Watchmen.

[ConcreteBlock15]

Director aside...

Doug Hutchison (The X Files's Tooms, The Green Mile's Percy) IS Rorschach!

Watch this space...

[Edward Brock]

Let's just hope that too much tampering with the script doesn't end up with something like...

http://i.somethingawful.com/inserts/articlepics/photoshop/08-13-04-watchmen/LazloNibble.jpg

Or this:

http://i.somethingawful.com/inserts/articlepics/photoshop/08-13-04-watchmen/Redrazors.jpg

[Carmine Falcone]

Here's a link to the Tse Watchmen script: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OPNJAKEE

How do I open that?
EDIT: Nevermind. Got it. I don't like Veidts' new masterplan.

[Agentsands77]

Watchmen is a little above BATS/SUPES. Watchmen needs a whack job in the vein of classic Tim Burton to make this on again/off again project a reality.
The day Burton touches WATCHMEN is the day I murder myself.

Christopher Nolan is definitely in the right vein to tackle the material, but he's tied up with his other projects anyhow.

[Carmine Falcone]

Veidt's masterplan is way too James Bond-ish. And I don't like the fact that he dies. Again, too James Bond-ish. Watchmen should be more than that.

[Anita18]

Er, may I ask how people know the Hayter script is good?

I have no opinion on Snyder since I'm not familiar with his work. (I hear 300 looks really good though.) But, I just looked up Hayter and he's the guy who gave us X1 and the brilliantly horrifying "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? Same thing as everything else" line.

If there are any remotely horrifying lines like THAT in any Watchmen movie, I will run out of the theater screaming. And I mean that in the most serious way.

[ConcreteBlock15]

Check out the third draft from 2003 (the only version widely available, to the best of my knowledge) of Hayter's WATCHMEN script here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RNFK6LNE

I see that a link to Alex Tse's most recent effort from a few months back is available four posts above this one!

Current word is that director Snyder is still waiting to take delivery of a screenplay in which he is entirely satisfied - let's wait an' see what else comes along!

And whatever it ends up being, I do (of course) know ONE thing:
http://www.superherohype.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247959

Actor DOUG HUTCHISON IS RORSCHACH!

[matrix_ghost]

Er, may I ask how people know the Hayter script is good?

I have no opinion on Snyder since I'm not familiar with his work. (I hear 300 looks really good though.) But, I just looked up Hayter and he's the guy who gave us X1 and the brilliantly horrifying "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? Same thing as everything else" line.

If there are any remotely horrifying lines like THAT in any Watchmen movie, I will run out of the theater screaming. And I mean that in the most serious way.

Have you read the book ?
Well the David Hayter script is more or less 95 % faithful to the book with a few tweeks such as changing the attack on the city and the ending.

And have you watched the Dawn of The Daen remake. If so , you've just watched Zach's movie ;)

[The Guard]

Er, may I ask how people know the Hayter script is good?

They've read it? It is good. Easily one of the best superhero movie scripts I've ever read.

But, I just looked up Hayter and he's the guy who gave us X1 and the brilliantly horrifying "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? Same thing as everything else" line.

Am I to understand you will overlook all the GOOD stuff provided in X-MEN by Hayter because there was that one poorly delivered (it's not that poor a line) line in the film?

BTW, Joss Whedon supposedly provided that line. Not Hayter.

[Chaos Bringer]

I'd kill myself if Burton became involved in this movie in any sort of capacity.


that would be cool as a producer. cool call!
now click click the heels and cast the wish.

[Agentsands77]

After seeing the trailer for 300, I hope Snyder gets the hell away from WATCHMEN.

[ToddIsDead]

I thought the 300 trailer was amazing, but I don't think that style is right for Watchmen.

[블라스]

It's retarded to think he'd apply the exact same style to Watchmen, Jesus Christ :rolleyes:

[ToddIsDead]

It's retarded to think he'd apply the exact same style to Watchmen, Jesus Christ :rolleyes:
He's already said he'll pretty much do it with Watchmen in various interviews, Jesus Christ. :rolleyes:

[WallCrawl]

He's already said he'll pretty much do it with Watchmen in various interviews, Jesus Christ. :rolleyes:

Which interviews?

[블라스]

He's already said he'll pretty much do it with Watchmen in various interviews, Jesus Christ. :rolleyes:

I doubt it will turn out like 300 in the end :o

(my retard comment was not directed at you, though, but at people who will pass on this because they didn't like the 300 trailer, :confused: :()

[Agentsands77]

(my retard comment was not directed at you, though, but at people who will pass on this because they didn't like the 300 trailer, :confused: :()
Why, what's the matter with passing judgement because of the 300 trailer? DAWN OF THE DEAD looks like it will suck, and 300 looks only passable - just a lot of CGI dross with poor performances.

I've said it before, WATCHMEN needs an auteur, not another two-bit director who happens to have a sense of style. Snyder seems in the category of a Robert Rodriguez; he'll churn out stuff that people find entertaining, but he's unlikely to come up with the next CITIZEN KANE.

This film needs a director who is a master of his craft.

[Carmine Falcone]

This film needs a director who is a master of his craft.

I highly agree with this statement.

[블라스]

Why, what's the matter with passing judgement because of the 300 trailer? DAWN OF THE DEAD looks like it will suck, and 300 looks only passable - just a lot of CGI dross with poor performances.

I've said it before, WATCHMEN needs an auteur, not another two-bit director who happens to have a sense of style. Snyder seems in the category of a Robert Rodriguez; he'll churn out stuff that people find entertaining, but he's unlikely to come up with the next CITIZEN KANE.

This film needs a director who is a master of his craft.

Damn it, I wasn't talking about you either, you like Craig! :mad:

[블라스]

Here's something for both ToddisDead and Agentsands77... :(

http://www.etfassociation.org/etf/home.nsf/public/9CE70C04703EBA7785256826001DFDB7/$file/rose.jpg

I'm sorry :O

[Antonello Blueberry]

I still would love to see Darren Aronofsky on the movie, but after "The Fountain" I strongly doubt they will let him direct such an expensive movie.

[ToddIsDead]

Which interviews?
Here's one that I remember.


(http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=23955)

QUINT: Are you wanting to go for a more realistic, less stylized vision of the world?
ZACK SNYDER: No, I don't know that the filmmakers in the past who have been attached to this... I just don't know what their take on the actual frames were. I gotta believe that they kind of really... I mean, I don't know Paul (Greengrass). I like his movies, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would take a graphic novel and film it, you know what I'm saying? It's going to be verite-ish. Whereas for me, my style is, like, graphic novel. I want to be able to get as much as the graphic novel in the movie as I can. I want the experience of watching the movie to be similar to the experience of reading the graphic novel, but also be its own thing.

I think that kind of implies that he's going to do the same kind of thing with Watchmen.

_____________________________

And Blas, it's all cool buddy. No need to apologize and give me roses.

[Agentsands77]

I still would love to see Darren Aronofsky on the movie, but after "The Fountain" I strongly doubt they will let him direct such an expensive movie.
He'd be a fantastic choice, I think.

[KingOfDreams]

Why doesn't Alan Moore just lobby to write the scripts himself? I mean, he hates the movie adaptations of his works and yet they keep being made.

[Agentsands77]

I think that kind of implies that he's going to do the same kind of thing with Watchmen.
It does. And WATCHMEN is a film that shouldn't feel "comic booky," if you get my meaning. At least that's how I feel about it. I mean, it should be about superheroes, but it should feel as real as possible. The film has to be the cinematic equivalent of the graphic novel, not a translation.

[ToddIsDead]

It does. And WATCHMEN is a film that shouldn't feel "comic booky," if you get my meaning. At least that's how I feel about it. I mean, it should be about superheroes, but it should feel as real as possible. The film has to be the cinematic equivalent of the graphic novel, not a translation.
I'm in full agreeance with you.

[ToddIsDead]

Why doesn't Alan Moore just lobby to write the scripts himself? I mean, he hates the movie adaptations of his works and yet they keep being made.
Because he'd rather they not be made at all.

[IKnowSomeJudo]

I still would love to see Darren Aronofsky on the movie, but after "The Fountain" I strongly doubt they will let him direct such an expensive movie.What exactly do you mean by "after" The Fountain? Have you seen it? Think it'll bomb?

[Antonello Blueberry]

What exactly do you mean by "after" The Fountain? Have you seen it? Think it'll bomb?
Yes, I've seen it and I think it will bomb. Not because it's bad (even if some of my friends found it really bad), but because it's not something digestable by the general public. Every studio will be afraid to give a big project to Darren now. And even his Batman: Year One script wasn't exactly a public friendly movie, with its psychotic main character and the excessive violence.

[buggs0268]

I think it would be cool if Warner Bros hired Chris Nolan and Bryan Singer on as producers to guide Zack Snyder.Take Singer out of that hiring to show him thing.

[Anita18]

Every studio will be afraid to give a big project to Darren now.
Was The Fountain a big project? I've read that the effects it used were actually pretty cheap due to it being mostly microphotography, not CGI. The budget is actually about $30 million. Not that big in Hollywood standards...

[Edward Brock]

Why, what's the matter with passing judgement because of the 300 trailer? DAWN OF THE DEAD looks like it will suck, and 300 looks only passable - just a lot of CGI dross with poor performances.

I've said it before, WATCHMEN needs an auteur, not another two-bit director who happens to have a sense of style. Snyder seems in the category of a Robert Rodriguez; he'll churn out stuff that people find entertaining, but he's unlikely to come up with the next CITIZEN KANE.

This film needs a director who is a master of his craft.There's a problem with that. "Auteurs" rarely tackle other people's work and when they do, they tend to personalize it. It would probabily be a good movie on it's own but it would also be quite different from the source material.

[Antonello Blueberry]

Was The Fountain a big project? I've read that the effects it used were actually pretty cheap due to it being mostly microphotography, not CGI. The budget is actually about $30 million. Not that big in Hollywood standards...
You are right, and I think people at Warners are happy that the 75 million version fell through.

[Agentsands77]

There's a problem with that. "Auteurs" rarely tackle other people's work and when they do, they tend to personalize it. It would probabily be a good movie on it's own but it would also be quite different from the source material.
Not necessarily true. Paul Greengrass was going to stay very faithful in his adaptation when he was attached (I mourn his departure from the project).

[JBElliott]

They're not going with live action or CGI, they're going with stop motion animation with this as the set and characters:

http://newcomicreviews.com/unsorted/29/1159091198202.jpg

[Edward Brock]

LOL! Cowboy Rorschack! :woot:

[Antonello Blueberry]

Btw, while in Italy to a press screening of 20 minutes of 300, Snyder confirmed his next project is Watchmen.

[Max J Power]

To me, the question is not whether or not Snyder is a capable director, but rather, whether or not Watchmen is adaptable to film.

[ConcreteBlock15]

http://www.davegibbonsfansite.com/western.jpg

[ConcreteBlock15]

Breaking news courtesy of the UK's Empire magazine site:

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

Shooting script almost ready... mid Eighties setting... Nixon... not being completely shot on bluescreen...

BRING IT ON!

DOUG HUTCHISON IS RORSCHACH!

[Carmine Falcone]

Hmm. Interesting. So it looks like they won't be using the notorious Tse draft...

[IKnowSomeJudo]

Breaking news courtesy of the UK's Empire magazine site:

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

Shooting script almost ready... mid Eighties setting... Nixon... not completely greenscreen...

Bring It On.This is like, the best news I've heard all day. 80s setting? Hell yes. **** yes. Someone gets it, finally.

[Cinemaman]

Well, I saw 300 trailer and it looks amazing.

I hope Snyder will make vissual style for The Watchmen as true to comics as it can be viewed.

[Antonello Blueberry]

I'm not so convinced that keeping the 80s setting and Nixon is such a good idea.
The Tze draft I read made a good job (not great) in setting the story in the present times, still keeping the cold war and Vietnam flashbacks, and making the story more connected to the actual events, as the Wachowski did for "V for Vendetta".

[IKnowSomeJudo]

It was a great idea to begin with, and I'm sure it'll play out nicely in the movie as an alternate history/period piece. Doc Manhattan preventing the 9/11 terrorist attack was a nice touch by Tse, but the 80s setting will prove to be more original and ultimately superior, I'm sure.

[Johnichi Chiba]

Wait a second, I'm confused. The frontpage says that Snyder is going with Tse's draft, but that Empireonline link says its going to take place in the 80s and that was not the setting for Tse's draft...

[ToddIsDead]

Wait a second, I'm confused. The frontpage says that Snyder is going with Tse's draft, but that Empireonline link says its going to take place in the 80s and that was not the setting for Tse's draft...
Maybe he wrote a second draft. I suppose it's possible.

[Lobster Charlie]

I'd really like to read that 2nd draft, because the first one was...bleh. I liked Hayter's more.

[cerealkiller182]

I'd really like to read that 2nd draft, because the first one was...bleh. I liked Hayter's more.

I didnt really like Hayter's even though people say it was the closest. I think the changes he made were bad, I would have made different changes.

[Edward Brock]

I'm not so convinced that keeping the 80s setting and Nixon is such a good idea.
The Tze draft I read made a good job (not great) in setting the story in the present times, still keeping the cold war and Vietnam flashbacks, and making the story more connected to the actual events, as the Wachowski did for "V for Vendetta".I wouldn't mind if they changed it to take place nowadays but, you know, I think it's for the best to keep it during it's original setting. On one side, the story and the themes are very interconnected with that period. On the other hand, it'll make for a more subtle approach on the social commentary side. Let people decide for themselves if our times are so different from the days back during the Could War.

[Edward Brock]

http://www.davegibbonsfansite.com/western.jpgI guess I deserved that.
:D

[Ben Breeck]

Problem is, using the original 80s setting for Watchmen is kind of like hyping a movie about fighting Neo-Nazis and then releasing a remake of Fatherland or The Philadelphia Experiment 2.

While it's broader social themes are more timeless than even Alan Moore is willing to admit, many if not most of the Eighties references (the Cold War especially) simply do not work for this day and age.

Imagine if Sam Raimi had decided to set Spider-Man in the early '60s, complete with beehive hairdos, "Seagull Wing" Chevy Biscaynes, and an early British Invasion sound track.

Look me in the eye and tell me with a straight face that it wouldntt have gone over like a lead baloon

[Lobster Charlie]

Actually, a period-piece Spiderman, Superman, or Batman would be pretty damned cool. Of course I prefer to see them in the here-and-now, but given to the right director, oh yeah, I can see all of them working in their respective eras.

Spiderman in the 60's
Superman in the 50's
Batman in the 30's/40's

[cerealkiller182]

IMO, Spidey, Supes, and Bats confrom to the times better. they are characters and are veyr much a product of their environment to a point. The Watchmen story is based on many thematic elements of that time period thus doesnt and shouldnt conform to a new time period.

The characters could conform, but the story as a whole is more dominant than the characters (Like Spidey and Bats stories)

[Motown Marvel]

Wait a second, I'm confused. The frontpage says that Snyder is going with Tse's draft, but that Empireonline link says its going to take place in the 80s and that was not the setting for Tse's draft...
the original Tse draft was written before Snyder came on board. in an interview snyder said he wasnt satisfied with that draft. so this recent draft is very likely to be a draft Tse did under snyder's supervision.

[spider-neil]

everyone is moaning about snyer but if you ask me he 'gets' it.
for one he is going to set it in the 80's ESSENTIAL if you ask me.
next he is going to use nixon (YES although it will be difficult to pull off)

he is going to drop the comic book (treasure island) sub plot, total waste of valuable screen time.

I remember him talking about 300 and all he was concerned with was putting the graphic novel on screen and that was it, no ego involved. I think he is perfect.

the plot lines I hoping remain relatively unchanged

* Dr. Manhattan origin and move to mars
* rosharch origin - fight with the police
* ozyimandias(sp) plan for world peace and ending
* the comedian's connection to silver specter II and her mother
* nite owl and silver specter romance

now personally I think that is far to much to include in a 3 hour movie (would perfer a tv mini series) but if anyone can pull it off it's snyder.

also I talk of changing the ending or making new scenes just make was in the BLASTED graphic now for pity sake if watchman is going to be ruined I'd sooner it were left on the shelf. this is the greatest graphic novel in the history of comics so left not screw this up.

[cerealkiller182]

* Dr. Manhattan origin and move to mars
* rosharch origin - fight with the police
* ozyimandias(sp) plan for world peace and ending
* the comedian's connection to silver specter II and her mother
* nite owl and silver specter romance


The only one I could really see them dropping is the comedians connection to sil spectre since it holds the leat amount of relevance to the main plot, but I do not think Snyder will drop it. It was a major character moment for everyone involved. Hope they keep the scene of the comedian in the Vietnamese bar as well.

[Antonello Blueberry]

The only one I could really see them dropping is the comedians connection to sil spectre since it holds the leat amount of relevance to the main plot, but I do not think Snyder will drop it. It was a major character moment for everyone involved. Hope they keep the scene of the comedian in the Vietnamese bar as well.
They were both in the previous Tse's draft, so they'll probably keep them.

[Edward Brock]

he is going to drop the comic book (treasure island) sub plot, total waste of valuable screen time.Excuse me? I admit that it's practically impossible to pull it off in a 2 or 2 and a half hour movie but if they did, it wouldn't be a waste of time at all...

[Capt. Jack]

Excuse me? I admit that it's practically impossible to pull it off in a 2 or 2 and a half hour movie but if they did, it wouldn't be a waste of time at all...

definetly not a waste of time it is hard to imagine a film without it and as much as i never want this film to be made if it must be then make it right im so sick of what seems to be this whole the best we got so lets just do it mentality

hayter did a great job although his changing of the end and whatnot was weak it was good and the 80's setting will work perfectly because the ****ing book isnt set in the 80's that any of us knew it was a semi futuristic 80's of what actual advancment would be like with 4 legged chickens and electric limozines

i for one never ever want to see 9/11 have anything to do with watchmen it is just ridiculous that tragedy should have absolutatly no existance in the world of watchmen and if it does make it in i will never see the film just for that reason alone

now i have a good amount of faith in snyder as a director all that i am concerned about is the writing cause in the end that is what matters most anyone could expect snyder to deliever a beautiful well directed film but if it isnt at least mainly the watchmen most of us know and love then what is the point

here is to hoping it turns our right

cheers

[Antonello Blueberry]

i for one never ever want to see 9/11 have anything to do with watchmen it is just ridiculous that tragedy should have absolutatly no existance in the world of watchmen and if it does make it in i will never see
Was Vietnam a comedy? A lot more people died over there than in the 9/11 attacks (and btw right now more American people died in Iraq, too).
However Warner Bros greenlighted its second blockbuster for summer '08 (Speed Racer) so we won't see this movie before Xmas '08.

[IKnowSomeJudo]

However Warner Bros greenlighted its second blockbuster for summer '08 (Speed Racer) so we won't see this movie before Xmas '08.I'm guessing early '09. Given that Singer's SR sequel comes out in summer of 2009, their release dates will probably mirror this year's V for Vendetta/Superman Returns.

[Capt. Jack]

sorry i was in no way trying to suggest that 9/11 was in any way more of a tragedy or horrible event in american or worldly history i was just saying that 9/11 should not be included in watchmen especially if it involves dr. manhatten stoping it (just feels wrong and too soon or something)

its hard to explain its just that feeling you know

[Capt. Jack]

sorry i was in no way trying to suggest that 9/11 was in any way more of a tragedy or horrible event in american or worldly history i was just saying that 9/11 should not be included in watchmen especially if it involves dr. manhatten stoping it (just feels wrong and too soon or something)

its hard to explain its just that feeling you know

[Sandman138]

I'm not so convinced that keeping the 80s setting and Nixon is such a good idea.
The Tze draft I read made a good job (not great) in setting the story in the present times, still keeping the cold war and Vietnam flashbacks, and making the story more connected to the actual events, as the Wachowski did for "V for Vendetta".

I'd rather see the setting stay. The Crucible being a parable for McCarthyism is no less powerful because it takes place during the Witch Trials. Indeed, a great deal of Watchmen's meaning is directly tied to the eighties and the sociopolitical movements that arose out of them. I like that I can read Donna Harraway's comments on C3I and the philosophy of a world on the brink of nuclear holocaust and see connections to her theroies in Watchmen. I honestly don't think any writer that the studio's would hire on for this could come close to the political, social, or philisophical complexity that Moore wrote so I don't see any good coming from them trying to "update" the story.

[Silvermoth]

Hey, I'ld rather it wasn't modernised because if people change the story for a "good" reason, they'd be more likely to change it for a bad one.

By the way, has anyone checked this out? Its pretty cool but its not mine.

Sorry if its been posted before...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w14DoxRIXW4

[IKnowSomeJudo]

^it's a great fan effort, even though the "new yawka" voice is terrible and nothing what Rorschach should sound like.
Watch this clip of Jeffrey Combs as The Question on JLU - now THAT's Rorschach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3K-Tenpq8g

[ToddIsDead]

^it's a great fan effort, even though the "new yawka" voice is terrible and nothing what Rorschach should sound like.
Watch this clip of Jeffrey Combs as The Question on JLU - now THAT's Rorschach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3K-Tenpq8g
I've always felt that either Combs or Brad Douriff should play the live action Rorschach.

[cerealkiller182]

^it's a great fan effort, even though the "new yawka" voice is terrible and nothing what Rorschach should sound like.
Watch this clip of Jeffrey Combs as The Question on JLU - now THAT's Rorschach.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3K-Tenpq8g

I have always wanted Jeffrey Combs as Rorschach even though he doesn't look anything like Rorschach without the mask he still looks creepy and no one will match his voice up with his face (at least most people) so when you see him as the protestor no body will assume him.

[Lighthouse]

Just finished reading Watchmen, and I've come to a few conclusions.

1. Only book that actually lives up to the hype of "Greatest Comic Book Ever".
2. Unless they do this movie as a hard "R" rating, there is no way they will ever be able to do any justice to the book. I honestly now understand why Paramount might have dumped it. Its not a commercially appealing book about superheros. I honestly don't know how they can transfer this to a commercial film.

[Silvermoth]

Ive read early drafts of Hayter and Tse's scripts, they're not bad and they stick to the story a fair bit. They could probably get away with an MA15+ rating, although you're right, it wouldn't be commercially appealling

[Sandman138]

Just finished reading Watchmen, and I've come to a few conclusions.

1. Only book that actually lives up to the hype of "Greatest Comic Book Ever".
2. Unless they do this movie as a hard "R" rating, there is no way they will ever be able to do any justice to the book. I honestly now understand why Paramount might have dumped it. Its not a commercially appealing book about superheros. I honestly don't know how they can transfer this to a commercial film.

1. You've been reading the wrong comics
2. It's not a "superhero film" if you're thinking about the genre only in terms of making another Spider-Man or even Batman Begins; it's a sociopolitical thiller that examines global politics and the politics of war through the lens of superheros. V for Vendetta, though it simplified things far too much and didn't stray far enough from the generic template that has been set up for how to make a "comic book" movie, still proved that such a film can be comercially viable. Furthermore, both V for Vendetta and Sin City were both R rated films, and they were both sucessful. 300 is going to be R as well. I'm really hoping that Watchmen shows other superhero films what they should strive to be.

[Antonello Blueberry]

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=38891
Snyder: Watchmen Remains True

Zack Snyder, who will direct an upcoming film version of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel Watchmen, told SCI FI Wire that Warner Brothers likes his take on the material, which goes back to the source for its inspiration, closely following the original 1985 setting and alternate-history American mileu in which Richard Nixon is still president. That faithfulness to the graphic novel, which has been famously considered unadaptable to film, ironically, provided the key to unlocking the script, Snyder said.

"That was the thing," Snyder said in an interview following a Nov. 8 screening of footage from his other upcoming graphic-novel adaptation, 300, in Hollywood, Calif. "What they tried to do is turn it into a movie. And that's not really how we approached it. ... [Co-writer Alex [Tse] and I were [like], 'What ... [about the] graphic novel do we love? Let's do that!' And I think that when we delivered that version of the script to them, and it was long of course, ... it's not [a metaphor for the] war on terror, it's not like trying to be, like, bulls--t updated. You know, which gets confusing. And then Adrian [Veidt]'s story gets all, like, lost with that. So ... that was the thing that cracked it: Just going back to the source. Saying, 'OK, why does this work here?' It seemed really obvious. It was weird. ... It's pretty exciting. They're pretty excited."

The studio offered a few notes, but Snyder said that the draft was accepted pretty much as is. "We've shown ... Alex and my official draft to the studio," he said. "And I feel like they're really excited now. They feel like it's a movie, and they get it now, and they're into 1985, and they're into the Cold War and Nixon and all the cool bits. So we're really excited. We're doing another little bit of changes, and then, I mean, knock on wood, we'll get going."

One element that Snyder introduces is a title montage sequence that will walk the audience through recent decades of the alternate-history United States, starting with the Kennedy assassination and Vietnam War and taking viewers to the current day, which is 1985.

Snyder added that he was in a private airport during his travels recently and came across the real Henry Kissinger, who was traveling with his own entourage. Snyder said that he attempted to approach Kissinger to ask him to play himself in the film, but was blocked by Kissinger's wife from speaking with the former secretary of state.

Written from 1986 to '87, Watchmen is set in 1985 in an alternate-history United States in which superheroes, called "costumed adventurers," exist, the Cold War is threatening to turn into a nuclear conflagration, Nixon is president, and the heroes have been outlawed. When one of their number is mysteriously murdered, the others spring into action. The Hugo-Award-winning graphic novel, by Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, is considered a landmark in comics and a heavy influence on films, books and comics since.

[Sandman138]

If this is true, Snyder is my new favorite person on the face of the Earth.

[Antonello Blueberry]

I don't know. I am not for faithfulness at any cost. Watchmen was written that wasy because those were socially relevant issues in 1986, we can update it for socially relevant issues of 2006.
And I like the beginning of the book too much instead. I would leave the recap of the alternate universe to TV images, or the flashbacks of the characters. If you do the montage before titles, you lose for example the impact of the introduction of a 20-foot Doc Manhattan in the lab.

[Antonello Blueberry]

Another article
http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=8847
Following a private screening and Q&A of "300" in Los Angeles Wednesday evening (we'll have a full report on that shortly), Director Zack Snyder spoke briefly about progress on the "Watchmen" feature film, which we should note is still a long way from production and/or a scheduled release date.

Apparently, a script has been handed into the studio to look over and it also includes a script written for "The Black Freighter" portions of "Watchmen." As readers of the graphic novel know, "The Black Freighter" is the comic-within-a -comic which provides a powerful narrative device for the main story. Snyder went on to say that at this early stage he had no idea whether or not "The Black Freighter" story would make it into the final script or film. Of course, "The Black Freighter" story could easily be excised from the final film as it's not critical to the overall story, but it certainly would make purists very happy.

When the conversation turned to how "Watchmen" might be shot - would they primarily use green screens like were used in "300" and "Sin City?" - Snyder said it would be a combination of sets and green screens, saying the Mars, Antarctica and possible "Black Freighter" sequences would likely require green screens, but the rest would be filmed on sets.

Finally, when asked would he be speaking with Alan Moore prior to the launch of filming, he said he would like to and really hoped he got that chance. During the production of "V For Vendetta," Moore swore off any involvement with film or television productions of his work.

[Sandman138]

I disagree, I think they are still socialy relavent. The Crucible did not need to be set in the 1950's to inform the times on the dangers of Mcarthyism. Good Night and Good Luck was almost all transcripts from Murrow's debate with Mcarthy, but that did not stop it from being relavent to our current sociopolitical climate. Much of the story of Watchmen needs to be set in the 1980's. Nixon being president is incredibly important, because we know what Nixon's philosophy on the presidency was (that he was an elected monarch). That is still relevant to our world where for the past few years there we have been pounded over the head with "to be an American is to stand behind the president whether you agree with him or not". Dr. Mannhattan's relevance as the atom bomb as god is not as great in today's world (V for Vendetta had to change nuclear apocalypse to chemical warfare for this same reason). Viedt is the hero of the eighties: the CEO. Today, he would be a public villian right off the bat. In my opinion, Watchmen is much more of a sociopolitical work than anything else, and I don't think you can update it without changing the story entirely.

[Sandman138]

I'm not big on the idea of The Black Freighter, if they think they can pull it off, more power to them. However, I don't see it being as important in a film as it was in a comic; it loses the self referance which is what made it work for me in the book.

[Motown Marvel]

I'm not big on the idea of The Black Freighter, if they think they can pull it off, more power to them. However, I don't see it being as important in a film as it was in a comic; it loses the self referance which is what made it work for me in the book.
i agree. it's likely something that should be cut. especially if snyder's intentions to use it are merely to satisfy purists, then thats the wrong reason to use it.

at most, maybe shoot it then come out with an extended edition DVD later.

[cerealkiller182]

the Black Freighter would not work visually, but i think it could be pulled off if they use very relevent narration (rather than cryptic ambiguous narration) from the book as a voice over for what is going on in the movie. It would be easy to introduce the book by the black kid and the old newspaper salesman who should be given some focus or else there is no emotional stock in the explosion and following creature in New York from Adrian

[ToddIsDead]

I like Snyder more and more with every new interview. Not sure on my feelings about the Black Freighter though.

[Killgore]

This one was from CHUD

It seems that Snyder and his screenwriter Alex Tse have cracked the graphic novel in their own way. He told SciFi Wire what he thought the problem with the other attempts on the movie was: “What they tried to do is turn it into a movie. And that's not really how we approached it. ... [Co-writer Alex [Tse] and I were [like], 'What ... [about the] graphic novel do we love? Let's do that!' And I think that when we delivered that version of the script to [Warner Bros], and it was long of course, ... it's not [a metaphor for the] war on terror, it's not like trying to be, like, bulls--t updated. You know, which gets confusing. And then Adrian [Veidt]'s story gets all, like, lost with that. So ... that was the thing that cracked it: Just going back to the source. Saying, 'OK, why does this work here?' It seemed really obvious. It was weird. ... It's pretty exciting. They're pretty excited."

Snyder insists that the studio is excited about setting the movie in 1985, when the comic originally came out, and having Richard Nixon still be president. Watchmen takes place in an alternate universe that answers the question of what would have happened if a real superhuman being had existed – in this case the all-powerful Dr. Manhattan. Snyder’s vision is to have the movie open with a tour of the Watchmen universe’s alternate history, from the Kennedy assassination and Vietnam all the way through to 85.

[Silvermoth]

This one was from CHUD

Hes really hitting all my fanboy pleasure buttons. Thank god its set in 1985

[War Party]

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."

http://movies.ign.com/articles/745/745863p1.html

[ToddIsDead]

His passion for the movie really gets me excited. I have the highest hopes possible for the movie at this point.

[Motown Marvel]

the way he talks about it, it almost sounds like they can pull it off! im all for a 3 hr watchmen movie!

[Carmine Falcone]

If this movie is not brilliant, it won't be good enough. But I'm getting confidence.

[Edward Brock]

He actually wants to do "Tales Of The Black Freighter"? He's nuts and I love him for that.

Next thing you know he'll be shooting the appendices. :woot:

[Antonello Blueberry]

Next thing you know he'll be shooting the appendices. :woot:
I can send him a CAT of mine.

[Lobster Charlie]

the way he talks about it, it almost sounds like they can pull it off! im all for a 3 hr watchmen movie!

Will the studio be into a 3 hour watchmen movie? I know I will be! But I have zero faith in Hollywood these days. We can only hope.

[ToddIsDead]

http://superherohype.com/news.php?id=4942

Hughes Designing Watchmen Costumes?
Source: LordMagnus
November 27, 2006


'LordMagnus' tells us that artist Adam Hughes (official site) is designing costumes for the Watchmen movie, to be directed by Zack Snyder (300):

Hi, I have a friend who goes to the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA, and one of her classes had a guest instructor for a day. It was Adam Hughes. He told the class that he was doing the costume designs for the Watchmen movie. Just thought that was an interesting bit of news.

Watchmen is an adaptation of the 12-issue comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons.

I don't know about you guys, but if this is indeed true, it's friggin' awesome. I love Hughes.

[ToddIsDead]

http://superherohype.com/news.php?id=4942

Hughes Designing Watchmen Costumes?
Source: LordMagnus
November 27, 2006


'LordMagnus' tells us that artist Adam Hughes (official site) is designing costumes for the Watchmen movie, to be directed by Zack Snyder (300):

Hi, I have a friend who goes to the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA, and one of her classes had a guest instructor for a day. It was Adam Hughes. He told the class that he was doing the costume designs for the Watchmen movie. Just thought that was an interesting bit of news.

Watchmen is an adaptation of the 12-issue comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons.

I don't know about you guys, but if this is indeed true, it's friggin' awesome. I love Hughes.

[Eddie Dean]

Whoa, all this sounds way too good to be true. I hope the plug isn't pulled.

[Octoberist]

Adam Hugh's art rocks.

[Antonello Blueberry]

While I love Hughes' art, all the people who saw the Kym Barret designs for the costumes said wonderful things about them.

[K.B.]

Hopefully the designs are perfect ie:right from the comics.


And as far as the folks who say negetive thigns about the black perl segments....my idea has always been (and god they better use this) is that you got the kid reading the comic and it's all live action then you zoom into the pages and the camera just pans over static animated pages (a good example of this is on the hulk dvd with the artists rendition of scenes from the movie) while you have a narrator/actors etc reading the dialoge.

[spider-neil]

adam hughes is one of the best in the business but what's to design just take the costumes straight from the comic

[Cinemaman]

Good choice :up:

[Motown Marvel]

hughes is a great artist....but that doesnt mean he's a great designer....but i hope he does well.

[ConcreteBlock15]

The plot thickens... just what involvement has Mr Dave Gibbons himself got in realising his own visuals up on the big screen?:

http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=23343 (http://www.comics2film.com/FanFrame.php?f_id=23343)


To summarise:
"...have spoken to Zack Snyder about visual aspects of the proposed movie, but I certainly haven't created any new designs."

All I will say is that I seriously doubt we'll "...see Gibbons used in the same way for Watchmen" by Hollywood; I would personally be surprised to see the same degree of media whoredom that we experienced with David Lloyd and the V FOR VENDETTA movie.


Oh, and apparently on the Adam Hughes Newsgroup (haven't found it yet), his galpal / business partner Alison Sohn has already debunked as bollocks those WATCHMEN costume design rumours, so I'm reliably informed.

[Lobster Charlie]

You don't need a comic book artist to design costumes for film. You need costume designers experienced in film to do that!

[ToddIsDead]

You don't need a comic book artist to design costumes for film. You need costume designers experienced in film to do that!
I agree. As long as they're close to what was in the book, and they look good on screen, then I'll be happy as can be.

[Caliber]

You don't need a comic book artist to design costumes for film. You need costume designers experienced in film to do that!

Even more simple a costume designer who can make the costumes just like the book. Give them the book or even better the hardcover edition and they'll know what to do.

[Lobster Charlie]

Hmm..I'm actually one of those comic fans that don't mind a mild re-design for films. I mean, I love The Watchmen..but Night Owl II's outfit? Uh-uh. I wouldn't mind it getting updated a little bit.

Same with Silk Spectre II. Some updates here and there wouldn't be so bad. Just not to the point where we don't recognize the characters.

[Antonello Blueberry]

Adam Hughes confirms he's working on Watchmen.
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=92702
Add one more name to the list of comic industry luminaries attached to the upcoming film version of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen - Adam Hughes.

Though rumors were circling earlier this week, the artist has confirmed for Newsarama that he will be designing the costumes for the film version of the seminal comic work, to be directed by Zack Snyder.

In an age when there’s a tremendous amount of crossover between comics and Hollywood, his work on Watchmen (“Assuming they like what I sketch,” Hughes joked), this will be his first movie gig.

So how did Snyder and the film producers find him?

“I’d like to say that my work spoke for itself, and my draftsmanship and Dave Gibbons-lie clean lines just called to them…or something…but I really have no idea,” Hughes said with a chuckle. “Maybe the movie guys walked through a comic shop looking for somebody - anybody to design their costumes, and some boobs called out to them from the rack. That’s a pun, by the way…

“But seriously – I have no idea. Maybe they just liked my stuff. Zack Snyder is working on 300 [based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller], so obviously he reads the occasional comic or two, one could deduce; but all in all, they got in touch with us, and it was all very causal.”

While the story - the words of Watchmen - is virtual scripture in the world of comics, in the eyes of many fans, so are the costumes. So just what will Hughes be designing, or doing, even?

“When you get on the other side of the fence, you sort of understand that there are certain things that wouldn’t survive a direct translation from comic to screen,” Hughes explained. “Superman and Spider-Man look virtually identical to their comic book counterparts. Batman doesn’t, but yet he still has Batman’s silhouette, and that seems to be enough for most people. But continuing, the X-Men hardly resemble themselves at all – but they still work.

“In doing something like this, I find that I end up thinking about two completely different groups within the movie’s audience at the same time: the die-hard comic book fans who will not permit even an iota of alteration; and then you’ve got your non-comics readers who will be turned off the minute somebody walks out in a leotard. You have to come up with something that allures and entices them and their debit cards and their dollars without being so radical that it turns off the die-hard fan. It’s actually pretty hard work.”

In short, Hughes isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel, or throw out Gibbons’ designs. What he is trying to do is take the original costumes, and make them…easier to swallow as something you'd see - and believe - on screen.

“In a comic book, because it’s all graphic abstraction, it’s easier to accept something that’s completely insane,” Hughes said. “But in a movie, you can make stuff that’s slightly insane – something that, if you saw someone walking down the street in it, you’d think, ‘No,’ but there’s something about the context of a movie that allows the slightly bizarre to become acceptable, just like where comics allow the amazingly bizarre to become acceptable. So now it’s a matter of, ‘Okay, how do we take the Silk Spectre from the amazingly bizarre to the slightly bizarre?’ After all, she wears an outfit that you could pull right out of Victoria’s Secret…”

Hughes is keeping mum on who exactly he’s been asked to sketch – although, as one might be able to guess, he was working on design elements of the Silk Spectre while speaking with Newsarama. “I haven’t been asked to do sketches of all the Watchmen, just a few of them,” Hughes said. “I think, the message at least I’m taking from that is that with some of them, there’s nothing that needs to be tweaked for the 21st century.

“But yeah – the ones that you can imagine might need some help to make them a little easier to swallow…the ones that you look at and think… ‘Uh…yeah.’ Those are the ones.”

And is he working on Dr. Manhattan designs?

“There’s only so much you can do with a blue ____,” Hughes deadpanned.

At the very least, Hughes said, the job with the movie allows him the opportunity to re-read Watchmen, and also – he’s found an invaluable reference. “One of the things that’s really helping is having the big hardcover Graphitti Designs Watchmen edition from…however many decades ago,” Hughes said. “It’s the same as the Absolute Edition, but it’s comic-sized.

“It’s got Alan Moore’s notes to Dave Gibbons in it, and he talks to Dave about the concept of the character, which helps in getting me thinking a little more about not what they’d be wearing, but why they’d be wearing it.”

And finally, as for how his movie work will affect his regular workload, Hughes said that he’s got a pretty good rotation thing going.

“I do a little writing on All-Star Wonder Woman, and when my typing fingers get tired, I move over to the drawing table and do a little more on Silk Spectre and try to make her work as well as some other sketches, and oh yeah, crap – I’ve got a Catwoman cover due. It’s a little schizophrenic right now, but fun.”

[ToddIsDead]

"Maybe the movie guys walked through a comic shop looking for somebody - anybody to design their costumes, and some boobs called out to them from the rack."

“There’s only so much you can do with a blue ____,”

:up:

[Movies205]

That sounds really cool, I don't mind change as long as it keeps in tone with the originals, and that sounds what he trying to strive for :up: