Okay, calm down people. There seems to be some major concerns right now regarding The Watchmen. Some say disaster in progress, some say it’s going to be fabulous…I would hope right now that there’s a lot of middle ground, and it’s swaying towards being the Watchmen we want.
On the bad hand there’s Ain’t it Cool News giving us such quotes as:
A couple of days ago the LA Times ran a piece about some internal struggles at Paramount…DeLine’s possible departure could endanger some high-profile projects at Paramount. Last week, he was in London to urge the director and producers of the studio’s superhero action thriller “The Watchmen” to cut back the film’s $100-million-plus budget so it could get the greenlight for production, sources said.
So the article starts to raise concerns and urges fans to go to the message boards immediately. Then there’s the good hand of Empire who arrive with a production visit, and they give us some titbits such as:
…if they’ve seen what Empire saw on our recent visit to the movie’s production offices at Pinewood (and they have), they wouldn’t have a moment’s hesitation in backing the project immediately – for Watchmen is going to rock. Hard…
…we saw an animatic version of the first three minutes of the film, a sort of pre-shooting test that is increasingly used as a sort of animated storyboard to give the director, producers and anyone else who needs to know a clue about what this is going to look like. And if this is any clue, Watchmen is going to look spectacular.
Visit that link as you like, there’s nothing to give away, but I warn you now. Visit the full report at your peril, although there are no direct “this is going to happen” moments, there are a lot of references to source material which might just give you too much to think on. Suffice to say the leading page says it all.
Two conflicting views and each has their truths. It could well be true that there is trouble in the Studio and that they are pushing to keep costs down, but it’s also true to say that the team behind the movie don’t want it compromised. Let’s hope work like Sin City helps to make the Studio see the wise choice of letting them have their freedom.
I still think League was a good movie.
An HBO miniseries would be the best format.
Baring that possibility, this would have to be done on the level and uniqueness that turned Fight Club into a cult hit. I do not see Watchmen ever becoming a mainstream hit, if it is to be translated well. You can’t turn this into an X-Men flick, and if they try, it’s going to wind up being League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the movie). :(
well, that’s kinda what i was getting at. there are enough fans out there i think that would be willing to chip in x number of dollars and we could all have producer credits. what if every watchmen fan out there donated 100 bucks out of their paycheck one month…and others could dontate more…it’s an idea. think of the possibilities. an independant consumer produced film.
Yeah, Twitch say it well, but I have to say that considering the scope and effects required of the movie there’s not a chance that it could get made by independant producers, far too much cash is needed for the movie.
Dr Manhattan alone would knock the budget skywards, never mind Mars, the end events, etc.
from twitch post on same subject:
i am a huge fan of watchmen. with the exception of a few other novels and works of fiction including sandman, i feel that watchmen is one of the greatest character developed, adventure stories ever. ever since i heard that gilliam wanted to do it i was ecstatic but he felt it was too difficult of a story and i agree.
a story as great and immense as the watchmen shouldn’t be made into a 2 hour movie and certainly not pg-13. i’ve stated this before but i feel cartoon network or hbo should produce a full 24 hour season series.
if you’re going to even attempt to make watchmen into a moving living breathing work of film and animation you should do it right and give alan moore the credit he deserves for giving the world this wonderful story.
do it right the first time and don’t let the politics of the studio fuck you (and ultimately the work) over. if someone would put out an open call to independent producers out there to get this movie made right i think that would be possible. i think there are enough people around the world that feel as strongly about this story as i do and would be willing to chip in some money for a producer credit and to insure the movie was made outisde of the studio system and done right.
There’s no way that they can put even a 1/4 of the comic into a two hour movie… Maybe they could make it into a triolgy?
They´d better bury the whole project down, not to resurface ever again. Those who have read the comic book understand this holy truth.