"WATCHMEN" Posters, Trailers, & Info

[RebelMan]

HD 480p:
http://movies.apple.com/movies/wb/wa...tlr1_h480p.mov

Release Date:
March 6, 2009

Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures

Director:
Zack Snyder

Screenwriter:
David Hayter, Alex Tse

Starring:
Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie, Matt Frewer

Genre:
Adventure, Mystery

MPAA Rating:
R (for graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language)

Official Website:
Watchmenmovie.com

Plot Summary:
A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, "Watchmen" is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion - a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers - Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity...but who is watching the watchmen?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen

[Captain Beefheart]

You could make Watchmen into a very good movie, but you'd need to do some serious transposing and be willing to write off a lot of stuff and refocus on other aspects. One of the most brilliant things about Watchmen, is that it is a comic book within a comic book within a comic book. It'd have to be a pretty extreme reimagining and a job for an auteur, not the literal minded craftspersons that have been f!ucking up comics movies for everybody.

[RebelMan]

Click here to read the six-page article

[RebelMan]

Trailer & Comic Book comparison Pics:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article...ic_comparison/

[Captain Beefheart]

I watched the trailer, it looks great visually. It may actually be a really good movie. But people need to prepare themselves if they are fans of the book. The things that make that book brilliant can't be put in a movie, just inherently. If you want to accept this as a flashy superhero movie wearing the skin of Alan Moore's ideas, then it's fine. But it's not the Watchmen. Which begs the question, who is the target audience for this movie? People who read the book and don't understand why it can't be filmed, or random superhero movie fans?

What i'm saying is that when you read the Watchmen, so many of the panels work on three or four levels based on a very intricate dialouge within the comic between the literal panel in front of you, it's space in the story, and all of the double entendres Moore uses that flit through the grander themes of the book. It's just not filmable, the reasons why this book is so great is completely tied into it being in the comic medium because there is so much meaning and little things to find in every single panel of the book, even if the director put all of those details in the movie, it's impossible to absorb them watching a movie because you can't like stop the movie while you're watching it in the theater, and flip back and forth between one part in the book and some part 12 pages before.

I mean you saw in the trailer the center scene from Fearful Symmetry, and rather than the books brilliant play on symetry throughout the book, that radiates from that scene, all you can get with the film is Ozymandis beating some fool down.

[Gumby]

I like it, and I have heard that it will be around 3 hours long (Snyder said he may include Tales of the Black Freighter in the DC), but I'm a fan of the book, and I know how hard it will be to adapt it properly. Still, I'm cautiously optimistic.

[Captain Beefheart]

Should the Black Freighter even be the Black Frieghter y'know? It's a pirate comic in that movie as a comment on comics, shouldn't the black frieghter for the movie make a comment about movies instead? HA!.

[SilverSpoon]

They looks so, so bad on that cover of Entertainment Weekly, which goes to show much of this movie will be reliant on extreme levels of colour correcting. But the trailer is really good. I kind of wish they didn't show Dr. Manhattan's Mars palace thing, though. That would've been an amazing spectacle to see for the first time in the movie. And speaking of that, I'm actually looking forward to that part of the movie the most. It was the most interesting section of the whole story, the way he told his story in first person flashbacks, but with all the little time jumps. It could possibly be omitted, or done really straightforward to the point where it loses its impact, but my curiosity right now is what makes it exciting. Kind of like how I know the Dragonball movie will be really bad, but I just really can't wait to see it for myself.

I wonder how many people will not understand that this movie/story takes place in 1985, and an alternate 1985 at that, and will start complaining about New York's twin towers being in the film. I can see the headlines now: "Englishman Alan Moore hates America. Snyder lends full support."

[RebelMan]

Originally Posted by Captain Beefheart

Should the Black Freighter even be the Black Frieghter y'know? It's a pirate comic in that movie as a comment on comics, shouldn't the black frieghter for the movie make a comment about movies instead? HA!.

Here is what might be happening with "The Black Freighter" \/

Tales of the Black Freighter, a comic within the Watchmen comic, will be adapted as a direct-to-video animated feature, which will be released on March 11, 2009. It was originally included in the script, but was cut due to budget restrictions, because the segment would have added $20 million to the budget, as Snyder wanted to film it in a stylized manner reminiscent of 300. Snyder considered including the animated film in the final cut, but the film was already approaching a three hour running time. Gerard Butler, who starred in 300, voices the Captain in the film, having been promised a role in the film, which never materialized.

The Tales of the Black Freighter DVD will also include Under the Hood, a documentary detailing the characters' backstories, which takes its cue from Hollis Mason's memoirs in the novel. The film will be released on DVD four months later, and Warner Bros. is also considering releasing an extended edition, with the animated film edited back into the main picture. In addition, a dozen short films (each around twenty minutes in length) will be released on the internet, using narration over the panels of the comic strip to familiarize newcomers to the story. These may also be released on DVD.

[Plastic Flute]

I just saw the trailer. It looks really good.

[Captain Beefheart]

Someone that hasn't read or doesn't care about comic books probably wouldn't be as struck by the Watchmen graphic novel than someone who understands all of Watchmen's nods and winks. They might only get the surface story, about generations of costume-clad superheroes, each dealing with their own inner struggles, each wanting to dispense their own brand of justice in their way.

My thing is just that if all Zach Snyder wanted to do was tell a good story about a group of superheroes, there's a lot better books than Watchmen at doing that.

The characters in the Ultimates are much more recognizable for people, and that story is much more character based. You can shoot that straight in and be fine. Same with the Authority. You could make the Invisibles, Seaguy, Transmetropolitan, you could do what Christopher Nolan did with Batman which is take a character, stay true to that character, and the elements of his world, and tell your own unique take on it.

The Black Freighter is a large part of the overall reason for the book to exist, which is to discuss the history of superhero comics.

And some of the most clever parts of the book are when Moore is juxtoposing the story with the outer frame. Like when he pops out of the narrative with the comic saying "That Deaths head banner it flies above us all" in the comic it's talking about the pirate flag, in the comic, there's a very small caution radiation symbol in the background where the kid is reading. Little moments like that are what makes Watchmen watchmen.

Plus like five pages later Rorschach puts his foot right into a puddle reflecting a skull and crossbones, which tells you about his character's role in the overarching plan by Ozymandis. Adaptation of source material requires a respect for ideas as well as content, and I don't think there's any reason that a screenwriter and filmmaker who really "get" the original material can't put something together to complement it.

Do I think the film will succeed on this basis? I have no idea. The clips in that trailer really don't say a lot about it one way or another. I don't have my hopes up, but I will allow myself a little extremely cautious optimism that I'll like this film better than, say, Hellboy 2 or The Incredible Hulk.

[SilverSpoon]

You need to be a really inventive visual filmmaker in order to get something like that across. In comics it's a lot easier to juxtapose words with images, especially words that are just a narrative and not a character's dialog. A film leans more toward the visual aspect. There's no doubt that Snyder will be able to transfer all the images of the book to film, but sometimes that's where directors stop when they say they're "staying true to the source material." But what worries me the most is what will be done with those little things after each chapter. Like the excerpts from Hollis Mason's book, or the newspaper clippings about the Black Freighter creators and the interviews with Silk Spectre. They're just as important, but at the same time a little more removed from the main story, and not accompanied by much visuals.

This is something people need to read before seeing the film.

[RebelMan]

[RebelMan]

1st "Watchmen" Review!
Aug. 15, 2008
Source: MySpace
by: Mike Sampson


Well sorta... We here at JoBlo.com haven't seen the entire WATCHMEN film yet (though we're free at a moment's notice Mr. Snyder...) but someone out there has. And that someone is Kevin Smith. Smith shared the Comic-Con stage during the Entertainment Weekly "Visionaries" panel (along with Judd Apatow and Frank Miller) and shortly thereafter Snyder invited Smith to screen a rough cut of the film. While Smith is sadly hamstrung by a non-disclosure agreement, he did post some thoughts on his MySpace blog:

And just so it's not all about me and my sh*t... I saw "Watchmen." It's f*cking astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off.

Remember that feeling of watching "Sin City" on the big screen and being blown away by what a faithful translation of the source material it was, in terms of both content and visuals? Triple that, and you'll come close to watching "Watchmen." Even Alan Moore might be surprised at how close the movie is to the book. March can't come soon enough.

"F*cking astounding"? Now that's what I want to hear. And even more astounding is that Smith likely didn't even see all the finished effects. I wonder if Alan Moore would actually eat his words if he decided to watch it and actually like it. Thanks to "Silent Jay" for the heads up!

[RebelMan]

WB's Motion to Dismiss "Watchmen" Lawsuit Denied
Source: Variety
August 18, 2008


Variety reports that a judge has denied a Warner Bros. motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox's lawsuit over the right to make a film based on the graphic novel Watchmen.

The trade says the ruling is potentially a huge victory for Fox, which could wind up being a profit participant in the film, costing Warner Bros. millions considering the film's box office prospects.

The judge appears to conclude that Fox retained distribution rights to the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons through a 1991 claim, and he concludes that under the 1994 turnaround with producer Larry Gordon, Gordon acquired an option to acquire Fox's remaining interest in "Watchmen," which was never exercised, thereby leaving Fox with its rights under the 1994 agreement.

The Zack Snyder-directed film is scheduled for release on March 6, 2009.

[Gumby]

The movie is being released 2 days before my birthday. Huzzah!

Those posters are badass...and the quotes are so true to the characters. Please be March soon.

[RebelMan]

"Tales of The Black Freighter" question has finally been answered \/

Absolute "Watchmen" DVD

Aug. 20, 2008
Source: io9
by: Omar Aviles

A few months ago, we told you about the three dvd's Warner Bros. is planning on releasing for their upcoming WATCHMEN, the Zack Snyder directed feature adaptation of the iconic Alan Moore graphic novel of the same name. We mentioned that the film itself would be the first, an animated version of the comic within the story, TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER, would be the second and the third would be a combination of the two. The folks at io9 recently learned from "Watchmen" comic animator Dave Gibbons, however, that this last dvd is an Absolute Edition in which the animated film isn't just packaged with the main film but will play alongside the main film as in the graphic novel, taking the film's runtime to more than 3 hours, LORD OF THE RINGS director's cut style. That's hella long but it should play out pretty great.

[RebelMan]

Originally Posted by RebelMan

WB's Motion to Dismiss "Watchmen" Lawsuit Denied
Source: Variety
August 18, 2008


Variety reports that a judge has denied a Warner Bros. motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox's lawsuit over the right to make a film based on the graphic novel Watchmen.

The trade says the ruling is potentially a huge victory for Fox, which could wind up being a profit participant in the film, costing Warner Bros. millions considering the film's box office prospects.

The judge appears to conclude that Fox retained distribution rights to the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons through a 1991 claim, and he concludes that under the 1994 turnaround with producer Larry Gordon, Gordon acquired an option to acquire Fox's remaining interest in "Watchmen," which was never exercised, thereby leaving Fox with its rights under the 1994 agreement.

The Zack Snyder-directed film is scheduled for release on March 6, 2009.

The Murky Side of Movie Rights
by MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: August 23, 2008

LOS ANGELES-HOW could this happen? The question springs to mind as 20th Century Fox claims it has the rights to the graphic novel on which Warner Brothers is basing “Watchmen,” its giant superhero movie.

Peer deeper into the murk of Hollywood’s business practices, though, and the question becomes: How could it not?

The film industry was buzzing last week after a federal judge here allowed Fox to proceed with a lawsuit contending that Warner had filmed “Watchmen” without bothering to acquire rights that Fox says it has owned for 22 years. This eagerly anticipated movie is directed by Zack Snyder, of “300” fame, and is based on the illustrated series (republished as a graphic novel) by Alan Moore and David Gibbons.

Warner, of course, begs to differ with Fox. So the studios are squared off for battle. Fox wants an injunction blocking the movie’s planned release on March 6. Warner wants Fox to go away.

Studios have certainly fought like this in the past. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Sony Pictures Entertainment, for instance, swapped lawsuits a decade ago over Sony’s plan to make a series of James Bond films to rival MGM’s. MGM won, more or less, after Sony settled and dropped its films. But Sony soon wound up distributing a Bond movie, th