Watchmen Gets New Director
Well it’s been a while since there has been any substantive Watchmen news, but it appears that the gears are once again in motion. According to Yahoo, Warner Bros. Pictures has hired Dawn of the Dead (the 2004 version) director Zach Snyder to “develop and direct” the graphic novel adaptation.
Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean anything since at previous points in time Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky, Paul Greengrass and screenwriter David Hayter have all been attached and subsequently unattached form the Watchmen project. Having said that, this one seems to have a little more juice:
Alex Tse, who worked with director Spike Lee on the Showtime cable network production “Sucker Free City,” is writing a script for the long-gestating “Watchmen” project, now in the pipeline at Warner Bros. Pictures. In November, “Watchmen” appeared as the only graphic novel on Time magazine’s list of the 100 best novels since 1923.Set in an alternate America, “Watchmen” follows the costumed hero Rorschach, who is living a vigilante lifestyle because most masked crime-fighters have retired or been outlawed. While investigating a murder, he learns that a former masked-hero colleague has been killed, prompting him to begin investigating a possible conspiracy.
This is a film that should definetly get made. To be honest I’m shocked it wasn’t in theaters years ago. I’m even more surprised that this project didn’t get fast tracked after the success of Sin City. But life is full of surprises.
1. 1138 replies at 23rd June 2006, 12:07 pm :
The watchmen series, next to The Dark knight Returns by Frank Miller stand as two of the greatest graphic novel series ever produced. They were great reads and really helped make comics a real publishing powerhouse in the eighties and nineties.
I would love to see a watchmen movie. It has the complexities, wit and violence that would surely make a great movie.
But I wonder if hollywood would really grasp the concept of Watchmen. Would Watchmen retain it’s comic integrity as it is translated to the screen. Would Hollywood make a mockery of the story, diluting it and perverting it for diverse marketing potential?
Now I don’t need a direct translation, just a nice adaption that will take the material serious enough to maintain the essence of the story.
It would be nice if the movie were rated R. But that would never happen.
I guess only time will tell.
2. themarina replies at 23rd June 2006, 12:42 pm :
I’m happy to hear the new news. It has indeed been a while since anything has been said about this project. I’m linking the idea of Zach Snyde being attached. I really enjoyed “Dawn of the Dead” and I’m interested to see what he’ll bring to the table.
3. Mike replies at 23rd June 2006, 3:22 pm :
To me, The Watchmen is the defining example of what makes comics a distinct artform, able to tell stories in a unique way that other mediums can not. In the translation to film, too many subtleties and plot threads would be lost, not to mention the inherent things that make the book so astonishing as a comic (pacing, visual patterns and rhythms, page compositions, etc.). The movie could be cool, but it would no longer be The Watchmen.
4. slybri replies at 23rd June 2006, 3:27 pm :
I don’t see how they can translate this story to a 2 hour movie without confusing the hell out of people. Even as a Graphic Novel it was a weird multithreaded story. Are they going to tell the parallel comic within a comic tale of the Black Frieghter? Are they going to explain the background origins of all these Mystery Men who moviegoers have never heard of before?
I’m pretty sure this movie is going to suck, especially in the hands of an inexperienced director.
5. John Campea replies at 23rd June 2006, 3:39 pm :
Hey Mike and Slybri
I wouldn’t count it out just yet. You both raise really good points… but the thing is.. about 40% of all previously writen work has to face a tricky adaptation stage.
Peter Jackson had to face it making Lord of the Rings…. and that turned out more than fine. Yes, it totally has to be adapted for the screen… the trick will come in adapting it in such a way that it preserves NOT every detail of the comic… but rather preserves the spirit of it.
I’m personally curious to see how it turns out. It will be a challenge.
Cheers.
~John
6. Martin, UK replies at 23rd June 2006, 5:05 pm :
Of course I’m fearing for the worst (From Hell, Constantine or LXG anyone?) but Snyder is a cool choice for director. His new one, 300, looks great.
Can they really sell a superhero movie to the adult, non-comic reading crowd? V For Vendetta did well, I think, but that had enough action and stuff to appeal to the teens. We’ve never really had anything like this. Batman and Hulk were pretty serious and grown up but they both have enormous fanbases from tv and movies and had enough action to get the kids into it. Also there was that whole annoying Hulk-bashing thing (”Where’s the smashing? bla bla bla”).
A serious, intelligent movie with a dude in an owl costume? It’s gonna be interesting to see how well this plays with Joe Public.
7. Tom replies at 23rd June 2006, 10:36 pm :
I don’t think a lot of people who didn’t read the comic are going to get it. Watchmen isn’t even really about superheroes, it’s more of a thriller/drama/sci-fi deal. If they make it look like just another average superhero comic book movie in the previews, people are gonna get confused-because people are stupid.
8. Bishop replies at 27th June 2006, 3:42 pm :
David Caruso = Rorshach.
But Horatio would need to act his ass off.