Production Delayed

[WalterKovacs]

Hey Folks, Walt here.

As it would appear, the production of Watchmen has been delayed even though it was about to end, and if the writers strike doesn't get resolved pretty quick here, we could be in trouble.

According to some very reliable sources, I've been told that the Watchmen production has added a few days to their shooting schedule.
The main reason being all of the unseasonably heavy snow that has been falling intermittently on Vancouver since December. The inclement weather wreaked havoc with shooting especially on the famed New York Backlot where many of the films exterior sets had been built.
Our source also added that the production is currently pulling in more extras and “cyber-scanning” some actors for use in some of the film’s visual effects shots. This “digitizing” of some of the extras may also be taking place to recreate some shots in post that could not be completed due to the troublesome snowfall.
Another one of our sources is also speculating that some of these extra days were added to the production schedule to leave some time to re-shoot a few scenes that may be slotted for re-writes if the WGA strike ends soon. That fact is semi-validated by the news that studio heads and the Writers Guild are close to formalizing a new three-year contract which may be finalized as soon as this weekend.
According to our most recent information, the production was originally scheduled to wrap principal photography in Vancouver some time around Valentine’s Day, and then pack up and take the whole show back to L. A. for a year of post production.

This could be bad.
Discuss.

 

[Killing Joke926]

Whoa, I hope it doesn't get delayed too far in time; say, does this mean the release date will be changed............again?

 

[WalterKovacs]

Whoa, I hope it doesn't get delayed too far in time; say, does this mean the release date will be changed............again?

What was the date originally? I remember it being announced at comicon, and they haven't changed it since, right?

 

[Shmoil]

As far as I know it's still and has always been March 2009. Except for the fact that it's been pushed back for the past 20 years. I don't think this will affect it too much, since it's only a few days. If it were like a month or something, then it could, but since the strike looks to be over, I don't think it will have much of an effect.

 

[tzarinna]

Yeah, I don't see how a few days can make that much of a difference.

 

[Katsuro]

Chill out. It's a couple days because of snow, and the release date is already really far away. They'll be fine.

 

[sad lieutenant]

WALT: No need to cue the hysterics here. Snyder strikes me as the bizarro-universe equivalent of Terry Gilliam when it comes to budgetary issues and studio-savvy. We're still over a year away from a premiere date. We will see this biotch on March 9, 2009.

The uber-diligent folks at WCM.com cited a couple of rather plausible explanations:

1) They are a few days behind schedule. This is due to the crazy amount of snow the Vancouver area has been getting. Unless they decide to go practical with the Antarctica stuff, this may slow down the shooting schedule.

2) They are making use of the very-recently brokered WGA deal to do some last-minute re-writes. This is interesting speculation, but nothing more, right? In any case, it would suck if the WGA business crippled this movie in any way.

 

[Katsuro]

2) They are making use of the very-recently brokered WGA deal to do some last-minute re-writes. This is interesting speculation, but nothing more, right? In any case, it would suck if the WGA business crippled this movie in any way.

The thing is, though, that this sounds like just an extra bonus. I mean, they knew about the strike, and planned to go ahead with the film as it was, but it seems like since the strike is ending they're gonna use it as an opportunity.

In other words, the strike ending can only be a good thing for the movie. It'll give them the chance to make rewrites they might otherwise not have been able to make.

 

[Shifty]

Strike should end Wednesday.

 

[sad lieutenant]

The thing is, though, that this sounds like just an extra bonus. I mean, they knew about the strike, and planned to go ahead with the film as it was, but it seems like since the strike is ending they're gonna use it as an opportunity.

In other words, the strike ending can only be a good thing for the movie. It'll give them the chance to make rewrites they might otherwise not have been able to make.

I agree.. That's the point I was trying to get across, only in a fever-induced, convoluted manner. Basically, I think it would be a shame if they have some re-writes from the set that they wouldn't be able to shoot do to the WGA strike. So maybe they've pushed a scene or two to the end of the production schedule, on the off-chance that there would be an opening to tweak the script. Sounds a little far-fetched to me, but WCM.com seemed to imply that they were getting their info on good authority (and they always do, it seems).