It’s difficult to believe that a WATCHMEN film is being made. For years it’s been one of those unfilmable Hollywood projects, yet the thing is actually lensing right now in Canada… madness! I’m of the belief that the eventual film won’t live up to the comic, and with a director as colossally miscast as Zack Snyder I wouldn’t be surprised if the thing stinks up the joint. At least the impending release will put a stop to – or at the very least subdue – the endless fantasy casting articles on the net.
Anyhow, news comes from CHUD that the production team are planning some interesting extras for the film’s eventual theatrical and DVD release. According to the site’s story, TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER, the comic-within-a-comic pirate segment from the graphic novel, could get released as an animated DVD to coincide with the movie’s 2009 theatrical debut. Snyder had previously wanted to film it 300-style with Gerard Butler as the shark-eating lead character.
Another potential extra for fans is an hour-long newsmagazine show that features a profile of the Golden Age Nite Owl. Shot in the style of a 60s TV broadcast, the extra would function in a similar way to the comic’s UNDER THE HOOD extracts.
These things are nice little easter eggs but I’m way more interested in seeing a fully rendered 2 hour film version of the story. Something that is self-contained and doesn’t require viewing a load of extras (homework basically) to get the most out of it. You can do that kind of thing in a comic because the reader has the ability to flick back through pages, to re-read certain parts. When you’re in the cinema the movie is in constant flow, you can’t get the projectionist to stop while you fire up a your portable to watch BLACK FREIGHTER.
It’ll be interesting to see how the BLACK FREIGHTER story weaves into the film if it gets made. It works in the comic primarily because of the thematic tie-in, but also because it utilises a genre (the pirate story) that would probably be prevalent in funny books if superheroes existed in the real world. If Snyder is fully realising WATCHMEN as a film and not as a cut and paste job from the comic as I suspect, then maybe he’ll have BLACK FREIGHTER work as a movie-within-a-movie?
source – chud
2 Comments
I saw 300 and though Snyder did a masterful job of creating what can truly be called a “pocket epic.” 300 was the film that Pathfinder aspired to be.
And I can’t dog him out. I think he’s a fantastic choice to direct Watchmen. Can’t wait to see what he comes up with.
Snyder is a real up and comer. Dawn of the Dead was fun and entertaining. Say what you want about the sacrilidge of running zombies, but Dawn is so much better than anyone could have expected. The way I see it we are really fortunate with the way the Watchman project is turning out. Watchmen is never going to be a high grossing tentpole, it’s simply not a 4 quadrant concept. Along comes Snyder fresh off a enormous hit who gets the clout to not only finally get Watchmen off the ground but assure it’s R rated with a decent budget. 95% percent of the film makers in Hollywood would cave in and settle for a PG-13 during the budget phase. I love that he’s fighting to find a place for the Black Freighter, the only problem is the BF is an effective plot device because it runs parallel to the story in the book. I’m not sure what seperating it out from the movie will do to it’s impact. The news I’m waiting to hear is that Snyder is going to chop it up and edit it into the DVD Director’s cut.