Watchmen Ending: How should it be adapted?

[Kaizer]

and a little film called "Dawn of the Dead" -- both by Claudio Simonetti, of Goblin -- and proceed accordingly.

Heh, I would think Snyder has seen his share of Dawn of the Dead.

 

[adam-red]

What with the success of Sin City and Snyder's 300, I reckon the studio will let him have relative free reign over this one. I read that when he pitched 300 to them they didn't have a clue what he had envisioned (which is easy to believe). With that in mind I'm gonna trust him to stay faithful to the source material - he knows how good it is and how well it could translate to film.

 

[cryptic name]

keep the ending exactly as it is in the book. no "doctor manhatten is watching" BS, no killing off Veidt or anything like that. keep it the way it is in the book. there's a reason Alan Moore is who he is and these screen writers aren't.

 

[StorminNorman]

the book's ending needs the books build up which the movie can not have.

The Manhattan plan works very well - though Veidt needs to live.

 

[cryptic name]

the only build up it needs is the comedian alluding to finding the island Veidt is using during his confession to Moloch, a quick mention of missing writing writers, artists, and scientists, and some dialogue from veidt at the end. i know most people like the doctor manhattan ending, but i really personally dislike it.

 

[logansoldcigar]

Not fussed about an opening Montage, i have my own way that I would start and finish the actual movie (post opening credits and pre end credits)

Open:extreme close up on the stained smiley face, and appearing to pull slowly away from it: turns out to be comedian falling away from the camera. have the smiley pinned to a black lapel on his gown or something.
Close: seymour and pile of mail. smiley is on a black t shirt. zoom into it until it looks the same as the close up from the beginning.
Nothing ever ends.

and Veidt has to Live

 

[rnewbz]

If Veidt dies, the whole story is pointless.

Exactley, Veidt has to live, Im sure Snyder will stay faithful to that. This isnt a happy ending kind of a movie.

 

[Johnichi Chiba]

Like I said in another thread, it can't be Doc Manhattan that is seen as causing the disaster at the end because he is America's super-hero. If he attacks the world, everybody else will blame America. If any one of the countries suspect some other world power then it's all out war which would lead to mutually assured destruction. Having something very obviously not from this world destroy New York would shut everyone up, but if there is a slight hint that the attack could be traced back to either the US or the Soviet Union then Veidt's plan fails.

 

[sad lieutenant]

[
Originally Posted by sad lieutenant
and a little film called "Dawn of the Dead" -- both by Claudio Simonetti, of Goblin -- and proceed accordingly.

Heh, I would think Snyder has seen his share of Dawn of the Dead.

You would think so! But if you aren't familiar with Simonetti's work (i.e. the soundtrack from New Barbarians), you should check it out.... I'll try and find some links. I think the utterly bizarre and yet somehow dated arrangements (a rather percussion-heavy approach laden with analogue synthesizers) would be appropriate for (some parts of)Watchmen's alternate-80s setting. (Think of the urban scenes in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns: what music would the Mutant gang be into?) And for those who are skeptical: there's some synth stuff akin to this sort of thing in Taxi Driver.

 

[Sandman138]

Like I said in another thread, it can't be Doc Manhattan that is seen as causing the disaster at the end because he is America's super-hero. If he attacks the world, everybody else will blame America. If any one of the countries suspect some other world power then it's all out war which would lead to mutually assured destruction. Having something very obviously not from this world destroy New York would shut everyone up, but if there is a slight hint that the attack could be traced back to either the US or the Soviet Union then Veidt's plan fails.

That's a really good point.

 

[logansoldcigar]

Like I said in another thread, it can't be Doc Manhattan that is seen as causing the disaster at the end because he is America's super-hero. If he attacks the world, everybody else will blame America. If any one of the countries suspect some other world power then it's all out war which would lead to mutually assured destruction. Having something very obviously not from this world destroy New York would shut everyone up, but if there is a slight hint that the attack could be traced back to either the US or the Soviet Union then Veidt's plan fails.

remeber, his attack will include the USA, and only the real nut bags believe that the american govt would attack its own people for political ends.

 

[sad lieutenant]

That's a really good point.

Agreed...

 

[Katsuro]

Vedit's fate needs to stay the same, but anyone expecting them to keep the squid monster is just being unrealistic. Having Veidt blame it on Dr. Manhattan is a lot simpler, and will allow them to cut out the entire subplot of the island and the telepathic alien. It's just as effective to have it be Doc M.

But really, Vedit MUST live. I cant express how disappointed i'll be if he dies. So... cliche and boring. Besides, the "nothing ever ends" line is just too good to miss. Hopefully WB sees the light and lets Snyder go with that ending (because we all know if Veidt lives, it's a studio decision).

 

[logansoldcigar]

These things can be worked out. when Matthew Vaughn was directing layer cake, the studio (Sony) insisted on a happy ending. The cast, script writer (who had also written the source novel) and vaughn preferred the scripted bleak ending. So, despite Sony's orders to dump it, they went back and filmed it. when Vaughn showed the completed cut to sony, he used his choice of ending, and they accepted it made for a better movie and let him keep it (this is according to the commentary on the deleted scenmes on the DVD,)

 

[the amazing fro]

i dont mind that it isnt the monster. i dont want viedt t die though that would freakin suck.

 

[Sandman138]

Vedit's fate needs to stay the same, but anyone expecting them to keep the squid monster is just being unrealistic. Having Veidt blame it on Dr. Manhattan is a lot simpler, and will allow them to cut out the entire subplot of the island and the telepathic alien. It's just as effective to have it be Doc M.

But really, Vedit MUST live. I cant express how disappointed i'll be if he dies. So... cliche and boring. Besides, the "nothing ever ends" line is just too good to miss. Hopefully WB sees the light and lets Snyder go with that ending (because we all know if Veidt lives, it's a studio decision).

I know that Cthulu won't make the cut. I'm fine with that. Honestly, it would be way too hard to make it as horrifying as it would need to be. However, I think there is another way to go about it that doesn't use Dr. Manhattan. The problem with using Manhattan is that it muddies his allegory for U.S. Nuclear policy, which is one of the most important parts of Watchmen, if not the most.

 

[Shifty]

The R rated 300 had Xerxes live and saw the main character die. I'm sure audiences would've loved to see Leonidas throw his spear right into Xerxes chest, but making him bleed and the Spartans going out in glory seemed to satisfy the fans. It didn't ruin the movie, perhaps made it better because the good guys lost that battle but in the end they won. Something different.

So the studio and the screenwriters should not even think about killing Ozy if the ending of 300 didn't prevent it from being (probably helped) one of the standout films of 2007. They're going to market it as "the director of 300 takes on the most acclaimed graphic novel of all time" so the audience won't leave with a sour taste in their mouth if Ozy lives.
Snyder is doing a script revision right now so we don't know what the final version will be like.

 

[Punch]

Snyder has referenced Se7en when talking about Watchmen, another film with a morally ambiguous ending, so I'm hoping he does the right thing.

I mean for him to make such a big deal about staying true to the book and them to change one of the most important aspects would be ridiculous. Yeah I want the squid, but I can live with a change if I have to, but Veidt dying is going too far.

 

[sad lieutenant]

New Snyder interview in an obscure rag has popped up. According to some dude on the IMDB boards, Snyder asserts in the interview that the ending will be "the same".

The fish-wrapper is called "Starlog". Sounds like a Sailor Moon fan-zine. Has anyone else read this? Can anyone get their hands on it?

Here's a link. Look for the picture of Rorschach on the cover:
(http://www.starlog.com/current_issue.php)

 

[Artos]

I've heard of Starlog. I might have to drop by B&N and check it out.

 

[sad lieutenant]

I've heard of Starlog. I might have to drop by B&N and check it out.

Wicked! Wear a black and white, latex sack over your head! (Just ask for the magazine, and while the kid is fetching it, start eating a can of beans. Then hand the kid your wallet to take out the cash for you.)

 

[sad lieutenant]

Anyone take a look at this interview yet?

 

[Johnichi Chiba]

Anyone take a look at this interview yet?

http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/102407-watchmen-starlog-article.php

 

[sad lieutenant]

http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/102407-watchmen-starlog-article.php

FAWK YES, SNYDER.

 

[DoomsdayClock]

**SPOILERS**

Some breaking news on the ending plus some other interesting tidbits about what Zack has planned.

**SPOILERS**

Oops...this was already posted...