Watchmen (film)

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Watchmen

Teaser poster drawn by comic book co-creator Dave Gibbons
Directed by Zack Snyder
Produced by Lloyd Levin
Lawrence Gordon
Deborah Snyder
Written by Screenplay:
Alex Tse
David Hayter
Comic Book:
Alan Moore
(uncredited)
Dave Gibbons
Starring Patrick Wilson
Jackie Earle Haley
Billy Crudup
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Malin Akerman
Matthew Goode
Music by Tyler Bates
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) March 6, 2009
Country United States
Language English
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Watchmen is a 2009 film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' twelve-issue Hugo Award-winning comic book limited series Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder. The film stars Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, Stephen McHattie and Carla Gugino. Set in 1985, the film follows a group of former vigilantes as war begins to break out between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film began shooting in Vancouver in September 2007 for release on March 6, 2009.[1] Like his previous film 300, Snyder closely modeled his storyboards on the comic, but unlike that film, he chose not to shoot all the film using chroma key.

Following the novel's 1986 publication, the film adaptation was mired in development hell. Producer Lawrence Gordon began developing the project at 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. with producer Joel Silver and director Terry Gilliam, the latter eventually deeming the complex novel unfilmable. During the 2000s, Gordon and Lloyd Levin collaborated with Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures to produce a script by David Hayter (who set it in modern times). Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were attached to Paramount's project, before it was canceled over budget disputes. The project returned to Warner, where Snyder was hired to direct in 2006. Fox is now suing Gordon for failing to pay a buy-out in 1991, which enabled him to develop the film at the other studios.

A DVD based on elements of the Watchmen universe will be released; it will include an animated adaptation of the comic Tales of the Black Freighter within the story, starring Gerard Butler, and the documentary Under the Hood, detailing the older generation of superheroes from the film's back-story. An extended edition of the film, with Tales of the Black Freighter edited in a manner reminiscent of the comic, is also possible.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

In an alternate 1985 where superheroes exist, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union are at an all time high. The vigilante Rorschach is investigating the murder of the Comedian, and uncovers a plot to discredit and murder various heroes. Rorschach discovers a far wider ranging conspiracy involving his colleagues' past which could completely change the course of history.[2]

[edit] Cast

  • Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl: A retired vigilante superhero with technological experience.[3] John Cusack, a fan of the graphic novel, expressed interest in the role.[4]
  • Billy Crudup as Dr. Jon Osterman / Doctor Manhattan: A superhero with genuine powers who works for the U.S. government. The role was once pursued by actor Keanu Reeves,[5] but the actor abandoned his pursuit when the studio held up the project over budget concerns.[3] He later visited the set while filming The Day the Earth Stood Still, an experience which he enjoyed.[6] Crudup provides motion capture for the computer-generated character, and also plays Osterman in flashback as a human.[1]
  • Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian: A vigilante superhero who is commissioned by the U.S. government. Prior to Morgan's casting, producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin met with Ron Perlman to discuss portraying the Comedian.[7] Morgan found the role a challenge, explaining, "For some reason, in reading the novel, you don't hate this guy even though he does things that are unmentionable. [...] My job is to kind of make that translate, so as a viewer you end up not making excuses to like him, but you don't hate him like you should for doing the things that he does."[8]
  • Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach: A superhero who continues his vigilante activities after they are outlawed. He was transformed over time from a "soft" costumed hero into a killer who sees the world in black and white.[3] Rorschach wears a mask with ink blots that morph to reflect his emotions: motion capture markers were put on the contours of Earle Haley's blank mask, for animators to create his ever-changing expressions.[9] Haley found the mask "incredibly motivating for the character" because of its confining design, which heated up quickly.[10] Small holes were made in the mask for him to see.[9]
  • Malin Åkerman as Laurie Juspeczyk / Silk Spectre: A retired vigilante superhero. Åkerman described her character as the psychology and the emotion of the film due to being the only woman among the men. The actress worked out and trained to fight for her portrayal of the crimefighter.[11]
  • Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias: A retired vigilante superhero who has since made his identity public. The role of Ozymandias was originally connected to actors Jude Law[5] and Tom Cruise,[12] but they left the project behind due to the studio's delay in handling the budget.[3]
  • Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason / Nite Owl: The first vigilante to take up the mantle of Nite Owl.[1]
  • Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre: A retired vigilante superhero, mother of Laurie Juspeczyk. Gugino's character ages from 25 years old in the 1940s to 67 years old in the 1980s, and the actress wore prosthetics to reflect the aging process. Gugino described her character's superhero outfit as an influence of Bettie Page-meets-Alberto Vargas. The actress donned the trademark hairdo of the character, though it was shaped to be more plausible for the film.[13]
  • Matt Frewer as Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic: An elderly rehabilitated criminal, known when he was younger as an underworld kingpin and magician.[14]
  • Niall Matter as Mothman: He is not a main focus of the storyline, but appears in flashbacks, at one point reduced in his later years to fragile sanity, unnerving the second Silk Spectre. He is regarded fondly by most of the Minutemen, and the first Nite Owl sends the second to visit him, uncostumed, on his behalf.[15]

Actor Thomas Jane said in June 2007 that Snyder had expressed interest in casting him in the film.[16] Snyder said he wanted younger actors due to the many flashback scenes, and it was easier to age actors with make-up rather than cast two actors in the same role.[1]

Production for Watchmen began casting in July 2007 for look-alikes of the era's famous names for the film, including Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, H.R. Haldeman, Ted Koppel, John McLaughlin, Annie Leibovitz, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, Norman Rockwell, John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Mao Zedong and Larry King.[17] The actor playing Nixon used a full face prosthetic.[18]

[edit] Development

In August 1986, producer Lawrence Gordon acquired film rights to Watchmen for 20th Century Fox. Producer Joel Silver was also working on the film.[19] Fox asked author Alan Moore to write a screenplay based on his story.[20] When Moore declined, the studio enlisted screenwriter Sam Hamm to pen the script. Hamm turned in his first draft on September 9, 1988. Hamm found the task of condensing Moore's 400-page, nine-panel-a-page strip into a 128-page script arduous. He took the liberty of re-writing Watchmen's complicated ending into a "more manageable" conclusion involving an assassination and a time paradox. Fox put the project into turnaround in 1991,[20][21] giving part of the rights to Largo International. When Largo dismantled, producer Gordon agreed to pay-out Fox in order to set up the project with another studio.[21]

Gordon and Silver set up the project at Warner Bros., where Terry Gilliam was attached to direct. Unsatisfied with how Hamm's script fleshed out the characters, Gilliam brought in long-time collaborator Charles McKeown to rewrite it. The second draft, which was credited to Gilliam, Warren Skaaren, and Hamm, used the character Rorschach's diary as a voice-over and restored scenes from the comic book that Hamm had removed.[20] According to Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, Silver wanted to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dr. Manhattan.[22] Filming was to take place at Pinewood Studios.[23] Because both Gilliam and Silver's previous films, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Die Hard 2 respectively, went over budget, they were only able to raise $25 million for the film (a quarter of the necessary budget).[20] Gilliam abandoned the project due to these funding problems, and also decided that Watchmen would have been unfilmable. "Reducing [the story] to a two or two-and-a-half hour film [...] seemed to me to take away the essence of what Watchmen is about," Gilliam said.[24] After WB dropped the project, Gordon invited Gilliam back to helm the film independently. The director again declined, believing that the comic book would be better directed as a five-hour miniseries.[25]

"[Watchmen] was considered too dark, too complex, too 'smart'. But the world has changed [after the September 11, 2001 attacks]. I think that the new global climate has finally caught up with the vision that Alan Moore had in 1986. It is the perfect time to make this movie."
—David Hayter, in October 2001, on the project's timing[26]

In October 2001, Gordon and Universal Studios signed screenwriter David Hayter to write and direct Watchmen in a "seven-figure deal".[26] Hayter stated his intent to begin filming in early 2002.[27] In July 2002, Hayter completed his first draft.[28] In May 2003, Hayter said he had Alan Moore's blessing on the film, despite Moore's disagreement with the project since its first incarnation.[29] In July 2003, Watchmen producer Lloyd Levin announced the completion of Hayter's script, which Levin called "a great adaptation [...] that absolutely celebrates the book".[30] Hayter and the producers left Universal due to creative differences,[31] and in October 2003, Gordon and Levin expressed interest in setting up Watchmen at Revolution Studios. They had completed Hellboy at Revolution,[32] and were intending to shoot in Prague.[33] The project did not hold together at Revolution Studios and subsequently fell apart.[34]

In July 2004, it was announced Paramount Pictures would produce Watchmen, and they attached Darren Aronofsky to direct Hayter's script. Producers Gordon and Levin remained attached, collaborating with Aronofsky's producing partner, Eric Watson.[35] Simon Pegg was involved in negotiations to portray Rorschach.[36] But Aronofsky left to focus on The Fountain. Paramount replaced him with Paul Greengrass and set up a target summer 2006 release date.[37] To publicize the film, Paramount launched a now-defunct Watchmen teaser website that had a message board as well as computer wallpaper available to download.[38] Graphic artist Tristan Schane drew designs of Dr. Manhattan for the film, which would have depicted him with visible intestines.[39] In March 2005, Paramount's CEO, Donald De Line, was rumored to depart from the studio, endangering high-profile projects including Watchmen. Earlier that week, De Line was in London, urging a reduction in Watchmen's budget so the film could get the greenlight.[40] As a result of the potential budget cut with the new CEO Brad Grey, Levin planned to move the project from Pinewood Studios (where it was going to be shot), hoping to curb the budget by filming outside the UK.[41] Ultimately, Paramount placed Watchmen in turnaround.[42]

In October 2005, Gordon and Levin were in talks with Warner Bros., originally the second studio to be attached to Watchmen.[43] In December 2005, the producers were confirmed to have set up the project at Warner Bros., but Greengrass was no longer attached to the project. In addition, the film was marked an "open writing assignment", which meant David Hayter's script would be put aside.[44] Despite this change, Hayter expressed his hope that his script would be used by Warner Bros. and that he would be attached to direct his "dream project".[45] On February 8, 2008 (as filming was finishing), Fox launched a lawsuit against WB, as producer Lawrence Gordon never paid out the studio as he sought a new studio to develop the project.[21]

[edit] Production

"I said, 'Is Watchmen better if it's updated? I don't know if Watchmen should go to the people, or the people should go to it.' People said, 'I think Watchmen speaks to our current climate,' and I said that's cool, but I said, 'Isn't it cooler to make a movie that the audience and people who are watching go, "you know what I think?"' I'd much rather do that than tell them what I think."
—Zack Snyder on keeping the 1985 setting[46]

Impressed with Zack Snyder's work on 300, an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name, Warner Bros. approached him to direct an adaptation of Watchmen.[47] On June 23, 2006, Warner Bros. announced that Zack Snyder would direct Watchmen with Alex Tse attached to write the script.[48] For the new script, Tse drew "the best elements" from two of the project's previous drafts written by screenwriter David Hayter.[49] The script did not keep the contemporary atmosphere that Hayter created, but instead returned to the original Cold War setting of the Watchmen comic.[50] Warner Bros. was amenable to the 1980s setting, and the director also added a title montage sequence to introduce the audience to the events of alternate history United States in that time period.[51]

Snyder said of his plans for filming Watchmen: "There are so many easter eggs in the frames (of the comic) so you want that level of detail in the movie itself."[50] Similar to his approach to 300, Snyder used the comic book as a storyboard, travelling with a copy and annotating its pages.[12] As well as the novel, Snyder cited Taxi Driver and Seven as visual influences.[52][53] Snyder said his February 2007 revision of the script would require 2 1/2 hours of screen time.[47] Snyder wanted a $150 million budget, but Warner Bros. prefer the budget remain under $100 million.[54]

Nite Owl's costume design was modernized from the spandex of the comic to make him more intimidating.
Nite Owl's costume design was modernized from the spandex of the comic to make him more intimidating.

In December 2006, comic book artists Adam Hughes and John Cassaday were confirmed to work on character and costume design for Watchmen.[55] Costume tests were being done by March 2007. 300 associate producer Wesley Coller played Rorschach in a costume test, which Snyder inserted into an R-rated trailer for 300.[12] Although he intended to stay faithful to the look of the characters in the comic, Snyder intended Nite Owl to look scarier, and wanted Ozymandias to possess authentic Egyptian attire and artifacts.[12] Nite Owl and Silk Spectre changed most from the comic, as Snyder felt "audiences might not appreciate the naiveté of the original costumes. So, there has been some effort to give them a [...] modern look — and not modern in the sense of 2007, but modern in terms of the superhero aesthetic". Snyder also wanted the costumes to "comment directly on many of today’s modern masked vigilantes, who shall remain nameless".[9] Set designers selected four Kansas City sculptors' works for use in the set of Dr. Manhattan's apartment after discovering their works on the Internet.[56]

Snyder hoped to have principal photography take place from June—September 2007,[57] but filming was delayed until September 17, 2007.[58] The production settled in Vancouver, where a New York City backlot was built. Sets were used for apartments and offices,[18] while sequences on Mars and Antarctica were shot against green screens.[59] Filming ended on February 19, 2008.[60] Sony Pictures Imageworks and Intelligent Creatures are among the visual effects companies working on the film.[61]

Composer Tyler Bates began scoring Watchmen in November 2007. He planned to visit the shoot for a week during each month, and view assembly cuts of scenes to begin rough composing.[62] The film will use some of the songs mentioned in the comic.[9]

[edit] Moore and Gibbons' response

[edit] Previous developments

In an interview with Variety's Danny Graydon during Warner Bros.'s first possession of feature film rights for Watchmen, the graphic novel's writer Alan Moore adamantly opposed a film adaptation of his comic book, arguing, "You get people saying, 'Oh, yes, Watchmen is very cinematic,' when actually it's not. It's almost the exact opposite of cinematic." Moore said that Terry Gilliam, preparing to direct Watchmen for Warner Bros. at the time, had asked Moore how the writer would film it. Moore told Graydon about his response, "I had to tell him that, frankly, I didn't think it was filmable. I didn't design it to show off the similarities between cinema and comics, which are there, but in my opinion are fairly unremarkable. It was designed to show off the things that comics could do that cinema and literature couldn't."[20]

Moore also told Entertainment Weekly in December 2001, "With a comic, you can take as much time as you want in absorbing that background detail, noticing little things that we might have planted there. You can also flip back a few pages relatively easily to see where a certain image connects with a line of dialogue from a few pages ago. But in a film, by the nature of the medium, you're being dragged through it at 24 frames per second."[63] Moore had opposed the adaptation of Watchmen from the beginning, intending to give any resulting film royalties to Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons.[22] According to Moore, David Hayter's script "was as close as [he] could imagine anyone getting to Watchmen." However, Moore added, "I shan't be going to see it. My book is a comic book. Not a movie, not a novel. A comic book. It's been made in a certain way, and designed to be read a certain way: in an armchair, nice and cozy next to a fire, with a steaming cup of coffee."[22]

In an early interview with Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker, Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons said that he thought the time had passed to make a Watchmen movie. At the time, Darren Aronofsky was expressing interest in directing the film under Paramount Pictures. Nevertheless, Gibbons said, "It was most likely to happen when Batman was a big success, but then that window was lost." Gibbons also told Neon, "In a way, I'm glad because it wouldn't have been up to the book."[20]

[edit] Production

In November 2006, director Zack Snyder said that he hoped to speak to Moore before filming, though the writer had sworn off involvement with film or television productions after his disagreement with the V for Vendetta film adaptation.[59] In a July 2007 interview, Moore said of Snyder's project, "If they go for some other novelty option like they did with V For Vendetta then I'm in for another year of excoriating them in every interview I do until they remove my name from it."[64] Before shooting, Snyder said "[I] totally respect his wishes to not be involved in the movie."[18] Dave Gibbons enjoyed the script by Alex Tse,[1] and the illustrator also was impressed by Snyder's enthusiasm. Gibbons said, "I do think Zack has got the ability to make a really good movie, and I think Watchmen has the ability to be a really good movie, and hopefully the two things will come together... I'm basically supporting it."[65] Gibbons gave Snyder some script advice which the director accepted.[18]

In January 2008, Alan Moore revealed that he had negotiated to have his name removed from Zack Snyder's film and to have all royalties go to Dave Gibbons. He said that Gibbons had asked him if he was interested in being updated about the film, but the writer declined. Moore said, "I won’t be watching it, obviously. I can at least remain neutral to it as long as they’re taking my name off of it and not playing these silly, ultimately futile games like they were doing last time, which worked out so well for them."[66]

[edit] Marketing

DC Direct will release action figures based on the film in January 2009.[67] Director Zack Snyder has also set up a YouTube contest petitioning Watchmen fans to create faux commercials of products made by the fictional Veidt Enterprises.[68][69]

[edit] DVD releases

Tales of the Black Freighter, a comic within the Watchmen comic, will be adapted as a direct-to-video anime, which will be released on March 11, 2009.[70] It was originally included in the script,[59] but was cut due to budget restrictions,[58] as the segment would have added $20 million to the budget, as Snyder wanted to film it in a stylized manner reminiscent of 300.[70] Snyder considered including the animated film in the final cut,[9] but the film was already approaching a three hour running time.[70] Gerard Butler, who starred in 300, voices the Captain in the film, having been promised a role in the film, which never materialized.[71]

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.[70]

[edit] References

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  2. ^ "New Watchmen Synopsis", Superhero Hype!, 2007-07-16. Retrieved on 2007-07-16. 
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  56. ^ Robert W. Butler. "KC screenwriter a finalist for $30,000 national fellowship", The Kansas City Star, 2007-10-13. Retrieved on 2007-10-22. 
  57. ^ ScoreKeeper. "ScoreKeeper With Composer Tyler Bates Re: 300, WATCHMEN, And Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN!!", Ain't It Cool News, 2007-02-22. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. 
  58. ^ a b Eric Vespe. "Zack Snyder and Quint have a brief conversation about Watchmen! Pirate storyline! Rorschach! More!!!!", Ain't It Cool News, 2007-07-29. Retrieved on 2007-07-29. 
  59. ^ a b c Jonah Weiland. "Snyder Gives A Watchmen Update", Comic Book Resources, 2006-11-09. Retrieved on 2006-11-09. 
  60. ^ Zack Snyder. "That's a wrap!", Warner Bros., 2008-02-19. Retrieved on 2008-02-24. 
  61. ^ Watchmen. Cinefex. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
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  68. ^ watchmenmovie's Channel. YouTube. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
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  70. ^ a b c d Brooks Barnes. "Warner Tries a New Tactic to Revive Its DVD Sales", The New York Times, 2008-05-26. Retrieved on 2008-05-26. 
  71. ^ Chris Hewitt. "Gerard Butler Talks Black Freighter", Empire, 2008-02-28. Retrieved on 2008-02-28. 

[edit] External links

Older development
v • d • e
DC Comics films
The Serials
Batman (1943) • Hop Harrigan (1946) • The Vigilante (1947) • Superman (1948) • Congo Bill (1948) • Batman and Robin (1949) • Atom Man Vs. Superman (1950)
Single films
Superman and the Mole Men (1951) • Batman (1966) • Supergirl (1984) • Steel (1997) • Road to Perdition (2002) • Catwoman (2004) • A History of Violence (2005) • Constantine (2005) • V for Vendetta (2006) • The Spirit (2008) • Watchmen (2009)
Franchises
v • d • e
Films directed by Zack Snyder
Dawn of the Dead (2004) · 300 (2007) · Watchmen (2009)
v • d • e
Alan Moore
Related people
Early British works
DC Comics
Image/Awesome Comics
1963 • Glory • Judgment Day • Spawn • Violator • WildC.A.T.S. • Voodoo • Spawn/WildC.A.T.S. • Supreme • Youngblood
America's Best Comics
Miscellaneous
Comics based on
Moore's prose
Alan Moore's Songbook • Another Suburban Romance • The Courtyard • A Disease of Language • Hypothetical Lizard • Magic Words
Books
Film adaptations
Spoken word CDs
Other
v • d • e
Watchmen
Creators
Minutemen Era characters
Crimebusters Era characters
Miscellanea
Watchmen (film) · List of Watchmen characters
Languages