Watchmen (2009) - Zack Snyder

Shivers · Post by **Shivers** » October 6th, 2006, 12:15 am

Em superherohype:

Zack Snyder Gives Watchmen Update
Source: Empire Online

Empire Online caught up with 300 director Zack Snyder and got an update on potentially his next project, the big screen adaptation of Watchmen. Here's a few lines from the article:

"We're getting ready to turn a script that we like into this studio," says Snyder. "They're pretty excited about it…I think the script that Alex (Tse) has done for us is the closest to the graphic novel it's been [since development started], for better or for worse. I feel like Alex has done an awesome job. It's keeping all the things that are cool about the comic".

Link: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=19672

DarkPhoenix · Post by **DarkPhoenix** » October 6th, 2006, 1:48 am

Off-topic, mas o antigo argumentista deste projecto, David Hayter, empresta a sua voz fantástica a Solid Snake nos Metal Gear Solid, desde o original da Playstation.

Shivers · Post by **Shivers** » October 6th, 2006, 11:23 pm

O script da adaptação está pronto. Snyder adianta mais detalhes sobre o projecto á IGN:

Director Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead) has revealed what's going on with his planned big-screen version of the classic graphic novel Watchmen.

"We're getting ready to turn a script that we like into the studio," Snyder said. "They're pretty excited about it…I think the script that Alex (Tse) has done for us is the closest to the graphic novel it's been [since development started], for better or for worse. I feel like Alex has done an awesome job. It's keeping all the things that are cool about the comic."

The film will retain the Cold War setting and elements of the original graphic novel, the director informed EmpireOnline.com.

Snyder also revealed that Watchmen will be a combination of blue screen work and location filming. "There are places like Mars and Antarctica [which will need to be blue screen] and then there are certain places where you need to feel the reality," he said. "I did Dawn of the Dead and now I've done 300 and I feel like it's a combination of the two. I feel like I know how to do it."

He also confirmed that no one has been cast since the script has not been finalized.

Wickedbug · Post by **Wickedbug** » October 7th, 2006, 9:30 pm

Só o facto dele ter de convencer as pessoas a manter a acção na Guerra Fria diz bem da dificuldade que deve ser adaptar bem uma banda desenhada em Holylwood.

Espero mesmo que saia um bom filme daqui (já q estao decididos a fazer isto de qq maneira que façam bem) mas mm sendo bom nunca vai ter o impacto no cinema que Watchmen teve nos comics.

Edward Brock · Post by **Edward Brock** » October 7th, 2006, 9:57 pm

Wickedbug, essa alteração penso que estaria mais relacionada com questões orçamentais: será obviamente mais barato colocar a acção nos dias de hoje (com algumas alterações ao nível da tecnologia, tal como na BD), do que durante a década de 80.

Quanto ao filme propriamente dito, concordo que nunca terá o impacto que teve a obra original (o "Citizen Kace das BD's de super-heróis"

) mas nada o impedirá de ser sólido e interessante. Aliás, a reacção surpreendentemente positiva do Alan Moore a algumas versões do argumento até me deixaram algo optimista.

Joe-Fagundes · Post by **Joe-Fagundes** » October 7th, 2006, 10:30 pm

Deviam também adaptar o Lost Girls, mas para essa obra o realizador mais aconselhado é o Mario Salieri

Edward Brock · Post by **Edward Brock** » November 9th, 2006, 9:52 pm

Snyder: Watchmen Remains True

Zack Snyder, who will direct an upcoming film version of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel Watchmen, told SCI FI Wire that Warner Brothers likes his take on the material, which goes back to the source for its inspiration, closely following the original 1985 setting and alternate-history American mileu in which Richard Nixon is still president. That faithfulness to the graphic novel, which has been famously considered unadaptable to film, ironically, provided the key to unlocking the script, Snyder said.

"That was the thing," Snyder said in an interview following a Nov. 8 screening of footage from his other upcoming graphic-novel adaptation, 300, in Hollywood, Calif. "What they tried to do is turn it into a movie. And that's not really how we approached it. ... [Co-writer Alex [Tse] and I were [like], 'What ... [about the] graphic novel do we love? Let's do that!' And I think that when we delivered that version of the script to them, and it was long, of course, ... it's not [a metaphor for the] war on terror, it's not like trying to be, like, bulls--t updated. You know, which gets confusing. And then Adrian [Veidt]'s story gets all, like, lost with that. So ... that was the thing that cracked it: Just going back to the source. Saying, 'OK, why does this work here?' It seemed really obvious. It was weird. ... It's pretty exciting. They're pretty excited."

The studio offered a few notes, but Snyder said that the draft was accepted pretty much as is. "We've shown ... Alex and my official draft to the studio," he said. "And I feel like they're really excited now. They feel like it's a movie, and they get it now, and they're into 1985, and they're into the Cold War and Nixon and all the cool bits. So we're really excited. We're doing another little bit of changes, and then, I mean, knock on wood, we'll get going."

One element that Snyder introduces is a title montage sequence that will walk the audience through recent decades of the alternate-history United States, starting with the Kennedy assassination and Vietnam War and taking viewers to the current day, which is 1985.

Snyder added that he was in a private airport during his travels recently and came across the real Henry Kissinger, who was traveling with his own entourage. Snyder said that he attempted to approach Kissinger to ask him to play himself in the film, but was blocked by Kissinger's wife from speaking with the former secretary of state.

Written from 1986 to '87, Watchmen is set in 1985 in an alternate-history United States in which superheroes, called "costumed adventurers," exist, the Cold War is threatening to turn into a nuclear conflagration, Nixon is president, and the heroes have been outlawed. When one of their number is mysteriously murdered, the others spring into action. The Hugo-Award-winning graphic novel, by Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons, is considered a landmark in comics and a heavy influence on films, books and comics since. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

Se o Henry Kissinger aparecesse no filme, era de mais!

Edward Brock · Post by **Edward Brock** » February 12th, 2007, 7:46 pm

O Zack Snyder voltou a falar sobre o filme:
http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=5207

Uma parte interessante:

I think the script is starting to become pretty cool. I've been talking to some actors--I'm not going to say who--but it's cool, because in some ways you can get real actors. You don't have to go Hollywood. So that's all going along. I've been drawing away, so I think it's coming along. They have talked about maybe shooting in the summer.

Achei esta parte particularmente engraçada:

The truth is, "300" to the studio is a graphic novel movie. It's not a movie that they necessarily understand exactly when I pitch it on paper. They feel in some ways the same about "Watchmen." They don't understand why it's not "Fantastic 4." I have to remind them that it's much more "Strangelove" than it is "Fantastic 4" which they don't like hearing, but they believe that I know, and in that way, it helps.

Típico.

Edward Brock · Post by **Edward Brock** » March 2nd, 2007, 6:33 pm

Bem, parece que sou a única pessoa interessada neste tópico mas quero lá saber.

Ontem surgiu uma notícia no mínimo intrigante (e também frustrante):

http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=news&id=9090

TOM CRUISE'S STARRING ROLE IN WATCHMEN NARROWLY AVERTED
03.01.07
By Devin Faraci

For the last couple of months I have been hearing rumors coming from the Watchmen camp. Most of them were about casting – a very reliable source told me that some of the biggest names in Hollywood were in talks to star in the film. So when another source told me that Tom Cruise was in talks, I knew that it was quite likely true.

My source was right. While on the phone with Watchmen director-to-be Zack Snyder yesterday, talking about the pending release of 300, I asked him point blank about Cruise, and he confirmed that he and Tom had been talking about it. A lot. But that now it looked like Cruise would not be appearing in the film.

“He was interested,” Snyder confirmed to me. “I did talk to him about it for a while.” And would the role he wanted be Ozymandias? “That would be the role,” Snyder said.

I can feel the shudders passing through fandom right now, but I have to say that Cruise would have actually been great casting for Ozymandias. The character in the comic is the baby-faced most famous man in the world, and bringing in Cruise’s monolithic fame would add a layer to what’s onscreen. And Cruise would probably view this as a film in the vein of Magnolia – one that he does to heal his cred. He’s doing that with Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs, but that’s not a commercial picture – playing this role in a commercial film (and people who have read the graphic novel know why this would be an especially interesting role for someone like Cruise to play, based on what happens with him towards the end) would go a long way towards helping mass audiences like him again. And since Ozymandias is a crucial character but not the lead, it means the whole film doesn’t hinge on Cruise.

It also shows the kind of scope that Snyder and company are looking to bring to Watchmen. 300 is a visually arresting film, but it was done comparatively on the cheap, and without marquee names - people are going to come to theaters on Friday based on the visuals, mostly. Watchmen is looking to be a major, major project.

Snyder talked a bunch more about Watchmen, much of which I’ll save for the full interview, which will run on Monday, but I found this interesting: Snyder’s Watchmen is definitely going to be an R-rated picture, no matter how Warner Bros feels about it. “They’re mad at that,” he said. “They don’t want an R-rated movie, but they’re cool with me. They’re like, ‘OK, if that’s what you think, Snyder. But it’s a bummer.’”

While I don’t agree with everything Snyder is doing with the adaptation – including setting it in 1985 and filming the Tales of the Black Freighter pirate comic book stuff – I do completely agree with him that the time is exactly right for this movie. “I believe audiences are ready for what’s the next stop of the genre. It’s an exhausted genre right now, at least that’s what I believe,” he said.

When Watchmen the comic came out, it was in many ways a critique and deconstruction of the superhero genre in general. When Watchmen the film started percolating, almost 20 years ago, movie audiences hadn’t been immersed in superhero films yet. “That’s the cool part about it, for me anyway. Your movie audience is basically where your comic book audience was when the graphic novel was written – you’re basically in a place where you can make a satirical comment about a superhero and the audience will get it, because they have the frame of reference.”

300 is out next Friday. Watchmen may begin shooting as early as this summer.

Pessoalmente acho que ele seria perfeito para o papel, por todas as razões e mais algumas. Talvez o único problema fosse a altura mas isso facilmente se resolve com truques de câmera.
O Zack Snyder neste momento transpira confiança por todos os poros e a WB parece acreditar muito nele. Vamos a ver como se porta o 300 nas bilheteiras.

efraga · Post by **efraga** » March 4th, 2007, 1:56 am

Para já estou a morder-me para ver o "300".

E quanto ao Watchman nem digo mais ...

Quanto ao casting é sempre uma incognita num filme que gera esta espectativa.

Se o filme resulta e a magia aparece, todos dizem que o casting foi perfeito e que não existiam outros actores para os papeis.

Se o filme falha e os fotogramas caiem na tela como tijolos, os memos actores são responsabilizados por já serem conhecidos ou desconhecidos.

Agora é so esperar pelo melhor.

DigitalDesperado · Post by **DigitalDesperado** » March 7th, 2007, 5:36 pm

Curtas declarações de Snyder sobre "Watchmen" proferidas na WonderCon 07, de IGN.Com:

March 3, 2007 - It's been known for quite some time now that director Zack Snyder would be following up his adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel 300 with yet another graphic novel adaptation, Watchmen. And as the publicity tour for the "sword and sandals" actioner nears its end, production on the latter film may finally get underway.

While promoting 300 at WonderCon 2007, Snyder let loose—albeit rather vaguely—his intended start date for the Watchmen production.

"I want to make it into a movie. The studio wants me to make it into a movie. We're going to try and make it into a movie," said Snyder, playfully. "We're talking about shooting it at the end of the summer. So that's as good as I can give you — it's trying to happen. It's a process."

The biggest obstacle Snyder must overcome, aside from adapting the rather dense comic book source material into live-action, is the ignorance of Hollywood executives.

"The studio says, 'R-rated superhero movie. What the hell is that? There's no such thing,'" revealed Snyder. Obviously, they haven't read Watchmen.

Wickedbug · Post by **Wickedbug** » March 9th, 2007, 10:07 pm

Em relação ao Tom Cruise, espero mesmo q nao entre no filme. Não é q nao goste dele como actor, porque gosto, mas neste momento toda a atenção mediática (muitas vezes negativa) q gira em torno dele iria ultrupassar aquela em torno do proprio filme o q seria mau.

Espero q os americanos vao ver o 300 em força para o snyder ter dinheiro para fazer o Watchmen livre de pressoes do estudio.

Edward Brock · Post by **Edward Brock** » March 10th, 2007, 12:40 pm

E eu acho que essa seria mais uma boa razão para ele ficar com o papel. O Adrien Veidt é suposto ser uma superestrela ultra-mediática, o que faria um paralelo interessante.

Argaroth01 · Post by **Argaroth01** » March 10th, 2007, 12:57 pm

Eu bania o Cruise da face do planeta. Detesto o homem.

Edward Brock · Post by **Edward Brock** » March 10th, 2007, 9:53 pm

*ahem*