Watchmen Prequels Confirmed

[Brain Damage]

I posted this in the wrong section, Mods, do your work.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I actually think WB may eye these for a movie adaptation down the line. They did it with 300 and the prequel novel to that. And prequels seem all the rage lately. I know Watchmen wasnt as successful as 300 but it had gained a sort of cult following over the years.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I might give some of these a shot depending on how my budget looks. I doubt all of them though.

And I like what Straczynski and Peter David said regarding Alan Moore's reaction to this. He's such a moron.

 

[Brain Damage]

I might give some of these a shot depending on how my budget looks. I doubt all of them though.

And I like what Straczynski and Peter David said regarding Alan Moore's reaction to this. He's such a moron.

Can you link me to this?

 

[Raiden]

I actually think WB may eye these for a movie adaptation down the line. They did it with 300 and the prequel novel to that. And prequels seem all the rage lately. I know Watchmen wasnt as successful as 300 but it had gained a sort of cult following over the years.

Yeah, I don't think WB was just thinking about giving the prequel the miniseries treatment only, because Watchmen is still such an iconic brand and has a movie under its belt already. I'm sure they're exploring the option of adapting them into future films.

 

[Airwings]

Warner Brothers are putting the focus in a wrong place. Again.

No matter how good Watchmen was, any Flash or Wonder Woman should be the main priority.

 

[The Guard]

I seriously doubt that WB is really considering a Watchmeh prequel, especially before they see how these comics are received. They're just mining their existing comic book characters, trying to gain a marketing edge.

 

[ClarkLuther55]

The Watchmen movie itself didn't even do that well at the box office. The critics were not especially impressed (64% Rotten Tomatoes), nor were audiences in the theater (mediocre "B" CinemaScore). This is not a knock on the original comic, since there were issues with slavishly translating the story into another medium. Something that Moore will agree with himself.

Watchmen might be a groundbreaking work in the comics medium, but to the general public it was just another movie that came and went. So I seriously doubt they're looking into starting a blockbuster movie franchise here.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Can you link me to this?

It was spread over 3 articles over at Newsarama.

Basically, Moore ranted about how he didn't want this to happen and that he doesn't went anyone using his characters and how DC's just leaching off of his 25 year old ideas and how that's wrong.

David and Straczynski claimed in their own interviews that Moore's argument loses credibility when he uses all those previously established characters in League of Extrordinary Gentlemen. I think it was David who said that he's pretty sure Frank Baum would be rolling in his grave if he saw what Moore did to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz in that erotic story he did with her and others (or something like that).

Basically, they professionally called him a hypocrite.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

The Watchmen movie itself didn't even do that well at the box office. The critics were not especially impressed (64% Rotten Tomatoes), nor were audiences in the theater (mediocre "B" CinemaScore). This is not a knock on the original comic, since there were issues with slavishly translating the story into another medium. Something that Moore will agree with himself.

Watchmen might be a groundbreaking work in the comics medium, but to the general public it was just another movie that came and went. So I seriously doubt they're looking into starting a blockbuster movie franchise here.

It wasnt that successful at the BO but has since gained a bit of a cult following. The DVD sales were very good, and the Bu-ray sales were as well, and its not like the cast would be expensive to re-unite.

 

[dru34]

while i do understand the reason why they WOULDN"T do the prequels because of the lack of BO sales and the average movie watcher, but i for one never read the graphic novel before i saw the movie, and now im a HUGE watchmen fan, i joined that little cult, but i as a fan would not like for them to make a prequel due to WB messing it up, just my 2 cents...

 

[JewishHobbit]

You know what would make Moore sick to hear? The fact that I actually enjoyed the movie more than the Graphic Novel.

 

[Brain Damage]

You know what would make Moore sick to hear? The fact that I actually enjoyed the movie more than the Graphic Novel.

That makes me sick to hear.
I really liked most of the movie, especially the first half (except the fight scenes, particularly the one in the alleyway really took me out of the experience), but in my eyes it simply pales to the genius that is the graphic novel.

That's not to say it was a bad movie, it certainly wasn't, and considering some of the abysmal ideas and screenplays being thrown around, I'm very happy with the product we got, but the original is on a whole other level.

Though, that's pretty much true of every text to film adaptation.

 

[JewishHobbit]

While I can read heady stories and enjoy them I just felt like Moore was trying too hard with the whole Dutchman thing or whatever his name was. And while I liked what he did in the end with Ozymandias' plan coming to fruition I NEVER liked the squid thing. I liked what the movie did with Dr. Manhatten LOADS better. I felt it was a better ending for that aspect of the story as well.

 

[matrix_ghost]

Can you link me to this?

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/before-watchmen-creators-talk-120201.html

But Straczynski also calls the argument that the Watchmen characters should remain sealed in the original series forever and never be touched again, "absolutely understandable and deeply flawed":

“Leaving aside the fact that the Watchmen characters were variations on pre-existing characters created for the Charleton Comics universe, Straczynski continued, “it should be pointed out that Alan has spent most of the last decade writing very good stories about characters created by other writers, including Alice (from Alice in Wonderland), Dorothy (from Wizard of Oz), Wendy (from Peter Pan), as well as Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, Jekyll and Hyde, and Professor Moriarty (used in the successful League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). I think one loses a little of the moral high ground to say, ‘I can write characters created by Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle and Frank Baum, but it’s wrong for anyone else to write my characters.’”

 

[Drizzle]

I don't know about a full-on theatrical film, but I think it'd be cool to see an animated direct to DVD feature as separate vignettes with all of the actors returning to provide voice work.

 

[TheVileOne]

I doubt WB would do a film adaptation considering Watchmen was a box office disappointment.

 

[CConn]

You know what would make Moore sick to hear? The fact that I actually enjoyed the movie more than the Graphic Novel.

I agree with you.

My problem with the book always was that the main plot seems to take a backseat to the individual character introspection in the book. And as goo as that introspection was, I really could see how people coud become disinterested in the book if they're a new reader.

The movie helped things flow a bit better, and moved at a slightly quicker pace so it felt as though the main plot was always present and relevant - without actually sacrificing much of the comic's story. I grow to love the movie more and more every time I watch it.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

My problem with the book always was that the main plot seems to take a backseat to the individual character introspection in the book.

But that's the point.

 

[CConn]

I'm aware of what the point is. Moore didn't execute it as well as he could have.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Pssh.

 

[CConn]

Go cozy up in Alan's beard.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I will. There's crumbs in there.

 

[MM2Dylan]

I enjoy both novel and film, and yeah, I have to admit, there are some things I enjoyed in the film over the book. But both are in my top 10 favorites of their respective mediums.

Concerning the prequels, I actually wanted to see these when I read about the Comedian War Journal and Minutemen miniseries concepts in an interview with Dave Gibbons from the nineties. I like the GN on its own, but I really don't mind seeing more of these characters and their world.