Watchmen

Not according to IMDB, and anyway, the news link you posted said "there are some revisions underway to really fine-tune the various Hayter drafts," meaning they're still somewhat being used. I'd rather see the entire thing re-written than anything.

Still, I don't agree with Watchmen being adapted to film. There's no way it can be cut up and served in 3 hours. No way. It's too tightly written - there's no loose baggage to cut away (besides the pirate substory, I guess). An HBO mini-series would be ideal.

I believe it can be done I just don't know if it'll be done well. Again, as I've said before the sucess of V for Vendetta gives me hope that this project 1. Will get under way and 2. Will be done well. My one hope and I know this may never happen is for Alan Moore to be on the project.

Anyways, is David Hayter working on the Drafts or is he completely out right now.

So many people are saying that because of the likes of V for Vendetta and Sin City (and 300, it seems), that this project or that project will be done well.

As I said, if the early pre-production and production stuff on 300 is any indication of the final product, I'm sure we'll have an excellent film. For THAT reason, I'm somewhat confident that Zack Snyder will know what he's doing with Watchmen. And the project is MUCH better off with Warner Bros. than with Paramount.

But to think that just because the Wachowskis or Robert Rodriguez make an accurate, enjoyable film doesn't necessarily mean Watchmen will be. There's just too much that can go wrong: too many people who don't understand how best to adapt it, too many studio execs who could curtail the production into an explosion-fest...

I'm just afraid that Watchmen doesn't have enough clout in Hollywood to command the respect and attention it deserves, and I'm afraid Snyder isn't a big enough personality to secure the control he'd need. I mean, Robert Rodriguez used his own studio to film Sin City. The Wachowskis, being the Matrix legends that they are, pretty much did whatever they wanted with V for Vendetta. Would Zack Snyder really have that sort of comfort at Warner Bros? (I guess the box office earnings for 300 will answer that question next year.)

EDIT:

See, I disagree with this quote from that AICN article:

Right now, I'd say 300 is the bigger Hollywood property. Sin City was much more well-received, and more identifiable, than V for Vendetta (not to mention, it enjoyed the "first strike" effect of the second batch of good comic book films). Comic book fans certainly hold Watchmen higher, but I'm thinking 300 would need much less promotion. People know Frank Miller now, and once they see 300 coming, they're going to go nuts about it. I doubt Watchmen will have that kind of steam. I mean, if you're Zack Snyder, how do you even make it clear in a 2-minute trailer what Watchmen is about?

Plus, I think it's safe to say that if he screws up 300, he'll have also screwed up much of Watchmen's chance for success (or even a fair shot). He'll certainly have dealt a blow to his credibility with the fans.

That sounds good in theory, but I'm wondering if the guy isn't just better off staying out of it. I'm guessing he'd be very unforgiving to work with.

I'm guessing Hayter has moved on, and someone else is busy revising his drafts for production. Remember, he was attached to the project when Darren Aronofsky was slated to direct (which was quite a while ago).

may i first say sedai's avatar kicks ass! i think i need a good one after seeing that. i hated The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell but have no idea what the Watchmen is...so if it turns out like the League or Hell i think it'll be dumb.

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Well, hopefully we won't have boneheads running the show. Watchmen could be a major film success (perhaps not as much at the Box Office as at the Academy Awards), if only it gets a fair chance. If you're curious, I'd recommend finding a copy of the graphic novel, and giving it a read. I've never met someone who didn't enjoy it.

This is bound to be interesting, though I'm thinking it's going to exclude too many details to keep my interest. Having read the novel will probably destroy the movie for me.

Well, here's a theory I have that I'd like to share with you. If a trailer comes out months and months before the actual film release, you can make a pretty good opinion on how good the movie is going to be. Secondly, if they have this trailer out the producers obviously know what they are doing and have some kind of plan (One reason why I have worries for Superman Returns and how well that's going to do.

Look, take for example Batman Begins. Roughly a year before the films release the trailer was offered, not a teaser. It showed how the film was and showed some kind of story was being presented.

I'm not saying you should base your opinion on the release of a trailer, it's just these little things that if you pay attention to you can be more assured of how well a film is going to do. So as long as they plan ahead and offer enough info for the fans to enjoy, I'm sure Watchmen will be a huge success. They'll be angering alot of people if they screw this one up. Probably one of the reasons why their taking their sweet time with this little baby.

I'm keeping tabs on this project, so I'll know if it'll be worth seeing before any trailer is released (assuming, of course, that they tell us about any changes they'll surely be making).

Of course I don't want to see them "screw it up," but I still very much believe that it shouldn't be adapted to film at all. Certain works just aren't meant to be films. You just can't condense Watchmen into two hours, and still retain a worthy impression of the story. Too many characters. Too much character development. Can't be done.

This I've never really belived in, I think if someone has the capablilty of doing a good adaptation for a film even if things have to be cut then go for it. Unfortunately that's not always the case.

The same things could be said about The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...ok bad example, but I think you can get the point. If David Hayter is working on the Screenplay I have complete faith that the film will do well. He hasn't let me down yet.

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Well, knowing Watchmen, I just don't see how they can do the book justice without cutting too many corners. Like I said before, that book is jammed with stuff that just - in my opinion - needs to be there. I mentioned in the other thread that X-Men suffered because it was supposed to be an ensemble, and David Hayter chose to focus on just one of the characters. An early news story regarding one of his screenplays mentioned that Nite Owl was the main protagonist, and all other characters were minor supporting characters. Nope. That's not Watchmen. They're all supposed to be main characters - even the Comedian, who is dead through the whole thing - and they all fit together a certain way. You can't just go cutting and flattening, and still have Alan Moore's story at the end of it.

Yeah, that was a really bad example. It could have been excellent, but it became a summer action movie. Wrong people calling the shots.

Yes, some things can be adapted. But what I said was, "certain works just aren't meant to be films." I don't think anyone really has the capacity to turn Watchmen into a 2-hour flick, and retain the complexity of the source material. It's the question no one is really asking. Yes, it would be cool to have a Watchmen film. But should there be?

If Sedai's example wasn't enough, I'd still like to offer my disenchantment with the X-films. I recognize that they were most likely extremely difficult to adapt from source material, so I can't come down on the guy too hard. But Watchmen is MUCH more difficult to adapt, and Hayter - as a writer - is still very much unproven for the scope of Alan Moore's masterpiece.

You're absolutely right and I have no objection to the fact that The Scorpion King sucked big time. I guess I'm just too much of a Metal Gear Solid fan to stray away from David Hayter.

I figured this was next after Sin City was such a success...but I read it was NEVER to be...

Okay, those of you who know me, or have at least been following this thread, know that I'm all about Watchmen never being adapted to film. It's just too complex and tight a work, in my view, to ever be translated both accurately and effectively. With the recent news that Zack Snyder is now helming the project, following the seemingly successful adaptation of Frank Miller's 300 (I haven't seen it yet), I'm a little bit more confident in this current incarnation.... more so than the prior David Hayter/Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass attempts.

Having said that, I have to say that this (as little as it is) has got me very excited:



That is, if it's genuine. The first report I read was posted on Aint-It-Cool News, but it looks like it's appearing on IGN, Netscape, and others as well. The image has only just surfaced. Apparently, it's an early test shot leaked inside a recent promo for 300. Snyder has leaked test shots for 300 in the past... this would certainly fit his MO.

Oh, and here's a larger image of the same shot for all you other rabid Watchmen fans to gobble over.

(And there's an even bigger one posted in the AICN article.)

EDIT: I had to see it brightened.

Trying to get such a complex story into one film will mean they will either miss lots out, rush the character developments or make an epic three hour saga which is hard going for most people to sit through..

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Probably all three, I would think...

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I'm hoping Zack Snyder's newfound clout with studio executives might lead to a series of films, rather than one big one. Though still not an ideal method, that would certainly make a more accurate translation possible.

(A mini-series is still, in my view, the best way - and perhaps only - way to go.)

There's only ONE thing David Hayter's good for, and that's the voice of Solid Snake.

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

Even though a mini series is indeed the best way to go, I don't think any studio would back that up.

Band of Brothers was only done because of Spielberg and Hanks, I don't see them tackling this one.

Agreed, unfortunately.