Watchmen (film)

Watchmen
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Zack Snyder
Written by	Screenplay: David Hayter Alex Tse Roberto Orci (uncredited) Alex Kurtzman (uncredited) Comic Book: Dave Gibbons Alan Moore (uncredited)
Produced by	Lawrence Gordon Lloyd Levin Deborah Snyder
Starring	Malin Akerman Billy Crudup Matthew Goode Carla Gugino Jackie Earle Haley Jeffrey Dean Morgan Patrick Wilson
Cinematography	Larry Fong
Edited by	William Hoy
Music by	Tyler Bates
Production companies	Legendary Pictures Lawrence Gordon Productions DC Comics
Distributed by	North America: Warner Bros. International: Paramount Pictures
Release dates	France March 4, 2009 New Zealand, Russia March 5, 2009 United States March 6, 2009 United Kingdom March 6, 2009
Running time	Theatrical cut: 161 min. Director's cut: 191 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$120 million

Watchmen is an American superhero film. directed by Zack Snyder and released in 2009. Based on the 1986 comic book limited series Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the film adaptation stars Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, Stephen McHattie, Matt Frewer, and Carla Gugino. Set in 1985, the film follows a group of former vigilantes as tensions heighten between the United States and the Soviet Union while an investigation of an apparent conspiracy against them uncovers something even more grandiose and sinister. The film began shooting in Vancouver in September 2007 for release on March 6, 2009. As with his previous film 300, Snyder closely modeled his storyboards on the comic, but he chose not to shoot all of Watchmen using chroma key and opted for more sets.

Following the series' 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 Bros., where Snyder was hired to direct (Paramount remained as international distributor). Fox sued Warner Bros. for copyright violation arising from Gordon's failure to pay a buy-out in 1991, which enabled him to develop the film at the other studios. Fox and Warner Bros. settled this before the film's release and Fox will receive a portion of the gross.

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 interspersed through the main storyline in a manner reminiscent of the comic, is forthcoming.

Synopsis

Set in an alternate 1985 America where tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union are high and the "Doomsday Clock" is set at five minutes to midnight, former superhero turned vigilante Rorschach discovers that one of his former colleagues has been murdered. As he investigates the murder he uncovers a plot that is intent on killing and discrediting all past and present superheros. As he reconnects with members of his former crime-fighting legion, including Nite Owl II, Silk Spectre II and Dr. Manhattan, they uncover a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy that not only links to their shared past but has catastrophic consequences for the future.

Cast

See also: Characters of Watchmen

Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach: A masked vigilante who continues his vigilante activities after they are outlawed. Unlike the other five principal actors, Haley had read the comic and was keen to pursue the role when he heard he had become a favorite candidate among fans. He and fourteen friends put together his audition, where he performed scenes from the comic. Haley "almost went nuts" trying to reconcile his understanding of complex human behavior with Rorschach's moral absolutism, stating the character made him wonder if people generally just make excuses for their bad actions. Rorschach wears a mask with ink blots that morph to reflect his emotions: motion capture markers were put on the contours of Haley's blank mask, for animators to create his ever-changing expressions. Haley found the mask "incredibly motivating for the character" because of its confining design, which heated up quickly. Small holes were made in the mask for him to see. Haley has a black belt in Kenpō, but described Rorshach's attack patterns as sloppier and more aggressive due to the character's boxing background.

Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl II: A retired superhero with technological experience. John Cusack, a fan of the comic book, expressed interest in the role. Snyder cast Wilson after watching 2006's Little Children, which also co-starred Haley. Wilson put on 25lbs to play the overweight Dreiberg. He compared Dreiberg to a soldier who returns from war who is unable to fit in with society again. Wilson said the fight style he was instructed to give Nite Owl was "heavy handed and power coordinated".

Malin Akerman as Laurie Juspeczyk / Silk Spectre II: Akerman 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. Akerman's latex costume and wig, which often stuck into the latex, did not permit a lot of protection when performing stunts, and she often bruised herself during filming. Akerman pronounced Juspeczyk as "Juice-peck-it".

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, but the actor abandoned his pursuit when the studio held up the project over budget concerns. As well as playing Osterman in flashback as a human, for his post-accident scenes as Dr. Manhattan, Crudup is replaced in the film with a motion-capture CG version of himself. During filming on set, Crudup acted opposite his co-stars, wearing a white suit covered in blue LEDs, so he would give off an otherworldly glow in real life, just as the computer-generated Manhattan does in the movie. Crudup had to keep thinking of the character in the comic, because he felt ridiculous in the suit. Crudup deemed it fortunate he did not have to wear prosthetics or fit into a rubber costume like the other actors though, and would remind them of this when they made jokes about his appearance. Snyder chose not to electronically alter Crudup's voice for Manhattan, explaining the character "would try and put everyone as much at ease as he could, instead of having a robotic voice that I think would feel off-putting".

Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias: A retired superhero who has since made his identity public. The role of Ozymandias was originally connected to actors Jude Law, Lee Pace, and Tom Cruise (who Snyder felt would have been better as Manhattan), but they left the project behind due to the studio's delay in handling the budget. Snyder said Goode was "big and tall and lean", which aided in bringing "this beautiful ageless, Aryan superman" feel to the character. Goode interpreted Veidt's backstory to portray him with a German accent in private and an American one in public; Goode explained Veidt gave up his family's wealth and travelled the world, becoming a self-made man because he was ashamed of his parents' Nazi past, which in turn highlighted the themes of the American Dream and the character's duality. Because of the German-born depiction of Veidt, Goode pronounced his surname as "Vight". Goode had been "very worried about my casting", feeling he was "not the physical type for [Ozymandias]. Yet Zack was adamant and reassuring and made me feel at ease". Snyder said Goode "fit the bill.... We were having a hard time casting [the role], because we needed someone handsome, beautiful and sophisticated, and that's a tough combo".

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian: A 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. When reading the comic for the part, Morgan stopped when he saw his character was killed off three pages in. When telling his agent he did not want the part, he was told to continue reading it and find out how important his character was. 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." Morgan asked Snyder if the Comedian could swear more in the script. Also, Morgan said he felt terrible after filming the attempted rape scene with Carla Gugino because of how the finished scene looked. Of his casting, Snyder said, "It's hard to find a man's man in Hollywood. It just is. And Jeffrey came in and was grumpy and cool and grizzled, and I was, like, 'OK, Jeffrey is perfect!'"

Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason / Nite Owl: The first vigilante to take up the mantle of Nite Owl.

Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre: A retired superheroine, mother of Laurie Juspeczyk and the first Silk Spectre. Gugino's character ages from 25 years old in the 1940s to 67 years old in the 1980s, and the 37-year-old 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. She also posed for the Alberto Vargas-style pin-ups of her character and a painting meant to be done by Norman Rockwell, which she enjoyed because she was fascinated by Vargas.

Matt Frewer as Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic: An elderly rehabilitated criminal, known when he was younger as an underworld kingpin and magician.

Niall Matter as Byron Lewis / 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.

Dan Payne as Dollar Bill: A first-generation crimefighter who caught his cape in a revolving door during a bank robbery and was shot to death. Payne is a fan of the comic and shot his scenes over four days, both for his cameo in the theatrical cut and the fictionalized DVD documentary.

Danny Woodburn as "The Big Figure": A dwarf crime boss whom Rorschach put in prison.

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, Larry King, David Bowie, Mick Jagger and the Village People. 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. Snyder's son cameos as a young Rorschach, while the director himself appears as an American soldier in Vietnam. Actor Thomas Jane said in June 2007 that Snyder had expressed interest in casting him in the film.

Development history

In August 1986, producer Lawrence Gordon acquired film rights to Watchmen for 20th Century Fox. Producer Joel Silver was also working on the film. Fox asked author Alan Moore to write a screenplay based on his story. 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 338-page, nine-panel-a-page comic book 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, and Gordon set up the project at a new company, Largo International. Fox would distribute the film. Although Largo closed three years later, Fox was still promised that they would be involved if the project was revived.

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 rather than McKeown, used the character Rorschach's diary as a voice-over and restored scenes from the comic book that Hamm had removed. According to Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, Silver wanted to cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as Doctor Manhattan. Filming was to take place at Pinewood Studios. 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). 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. After Warner Bros. 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.

"[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

In October 2001, Gordon and Universal Studios signed screenwriter David Hayter to write and direct Watchmen in a "seven-figure deal". Hayter stated his intent to begin filming in early 2002. In July 2002, Hayter completed his first draft. 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. In July 2003, Watchmen producer Lloyd Levin announced the completion of Hayter's script, which he called "a great adaptation [...] that absolutely celebrates the book". Hayter and the producers left Universal due to creative differences, and in October 2003, Gordon and Levin expressed interest in setting up Watchmen at Revolution Studios. They had completed Hellboy at Revolution, and were intending to shoot in Prague. The project did not hold together at Revolution Studios and subsequently fell apart.

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. But Aronofsky left to focus on The Fountain. Paramount replaced him with Paul Greengrass and set up a target summer 2006 release date. Simon Pegg was involved in negotiations to portray Rorschach, while Daniel Craig, Jude Law and Sigourney Weaver were interested in the film. Greengrass wanted Joaquin Phoenix for Doctor Manhattan. 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. Graphic artist Tristan Schane drew designs of Dr. Manhattan for the film, which would have depicted him with visible intestines. Gilliam read Greengrass' revision of Hayter's script and liked it, but told the director he did not think the studio would greenlight such a dark film; 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. 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. Ultimately, Paramount placed Watchmen in turnaround.

In October 2005, Gordon and Levin were in talks with Warner Bros., originally the second studio to be attached to Watchmen. 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. 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". After Warner Bros. officially became involved, the studio claimed that because Paramount had not fully reimbursed Universal for its development costs, Paramount had no legal claim over the film rights. Therefore, it would not be entitled to co-finance the film with Warner Bros. After negotiations between the studios, they agreed that Paramount would own 25% of the film and would distribute it outside North America.

Production

"I didn't update [the 1985 setting] for a couple of reasons. I thought Nixon was important to the movie. He's not in the movie a lot, but [his presence] says a lot, [especially about] what a villain is. In the graphic novel, he's written with a lot of ambiguity of whether he's a bad guy or not. [Also] if you update this and make it about the war on terror, you're now asking me to make a comment of how I feel about the war on terror. This way, it's up to you how you decide to feel about it."

Zack Snyder

Impressed with Zack Snyder's work on 300, an adaptation of Frank Miller's comic book of the same name, Warner Bros. approached him to direct an adaptation of Watchmen. On June 23, 2006, Warner Bros. announced that Snyder would direct Watchmen, with Alex Tse attached to write the script. Snyder spent two weeks considering whether to direct or not, but decided if he did not do it, someone else would, especially when he read David Hayter's draft and discovered Ozymandias died at the end. For the new script, Tse drew "the best elements" from two of the project's previous drafts written by Hayter. The script did not keep the contemporary atmosphere that Hayter created, but instead returned to the original Cold War setting of the Watchmen comic. Warner Bros. was amenable to keeping the 1980s setting, although less so to an R-rating, 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. Snyder kept the ending from one of Hayter's drafts, which simplified details of the conspiracy within the story, because he felt it would allow more screentime to explore characters' backstories.

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." Similar to his approach to 300, Snyder used the comic book as a storyboard, travelling with a copy and annotating its pages. As well as the novel, Snyder cited Taxi Driver and Seven as visual influences. Snyder wanted a $150 million budget, but Warner Bros. preferred the budget remain under $100 million. To make the film more topical, Snyder emphasized the existing subplot concerning energy resources, but he decided replacing Richard Nixon with Ronald Reagan would alienate American viewers. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman met with Snyder twice during the later stages of pre-production to further revise the script, although Snyder explained the script was merely a document for the studio, and it was his storyboards that were his true guide for him for making the movie. James Kakalios, author of The Physics of Superheroes, was also hired as scientific consultant. Throughout filming, Snyder kept adding in dialogue to mention more of the characters' backstories so the film would be as faithful as possible.

In December 2006, comic book artists Adam Hughes and John Cassaday were confirmed to work on character and costume design for Watchmen. 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. 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. 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". Costume designer Michael Wilkinson added the costumes had to look realistic and protective, and that the Nite Owl costume reflect Dan's interest in aerodynamics. The chain mail in his costume resemble a bird's feathers. Snyder also wanted the costumes to "comment directly on many of today’s modern masked vigilantes": The Ozymandias costume, with its molded muscles and nipples, parodies the costumes in Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997).

Archie (Nite Owl's airship) on display at the 2008 Comic-Con

Production designer Alex McDowell intended Nixon's war room to pay tribute to the war room in the film Dr. Strangelove. McDowell wanted Manhattan's apartment, which is inside his laboratory, to look like the work of Maison Jansen, because, "the powers that be, who know nothing about design, but needed [Manhattan] to feel like he was the most important guy in America". The apartment also echoes the film The Man Who Fell To Earth, as in a book prop named Masterpieces in Paint and Poetry and a tennis courtroom with similar wallpaper. 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.

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

Snyder's first cut of the film was three hours long. In keeping the film tight, Snyder dubbed himself "the gatekeeper" of the comic's easter eggs, "while [the studio] conspire to say, 'No. Length, length, length. Playability.' [...] I've lost perspective on that now, because to me, the honest truth is I geek out on little stuff now as much as anybody. Like, people will go, 'We've got to cut. You don't need that shot of Hollis Mason's garage sign.' And I'm like, 'What are you talking about? Of course you do. Are you crazy? How will people enjoy the movie without shit like that in it?' So it's hard for me." Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov indicated a 145-minute theatrical running time was more likely. Snyder cut the film down to 165 minutes, then 157 when he realized there was a way to further trim the film: the murder of Hollis Mason, the first Nite Owl, which "was easy without destroying the movie".

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. Snyder and Bates listened to the soundtracks of 1980s films such as Manhunter, Blade Runner and To Live and Die in L.A. for inspiration. Bates used a Yamaha CS-80 or an MOTM for moments that he felt should have more ambience or synthesizers. Snyder wanted a scene where Nite Owl and Silk Spectre rescue people from a burning building to have a more traditional superhero feel and Bates implemented a four to the floor guitar rhythm. A 64-strong choir and an 87-piece ensemble from the Hollywood Studio Symphony were hired for the more orchestral themes.

The film uses some of the songs mentioned in the comic, including Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a-Changin'", which is played over the opening montage; Jimi Hendrix's cover of "All Along the Watchtower"; Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence"; the German version of Nena's "99 Luftballons"; a musak version of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World"; and Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable" in an advertisement for Veidt's Nostalgia perfume. Many of the period songs were upmixed to 5.1 surround for the film using the Penteo process. Bates said the challenge was composing music that would transition effectively into these famous songs. My Chemical Romance (whose lead singer Gerard Way is a fan of the comic) covered Dylan's "Desolation Row" for the closing credits.

Moore and Gibbons' response

Teaser poster drawn by Watchmen illustrator Dave Gibbons for the 2007 Comic-Con International

When 20th Century Fox acquired rights to the novel, the comic book's writer Alan Moore was excited about the film adaptation. In a 1987 edition of Comics Interview, he revealed Sam Hamm, who was attached to write, "came to Northampton and had lunch with me – and I've got complete faith in him. I believe that he will try his best to make the film as faithful to the experience of reading Watchmen as he can." Hamm's script was unfaithful to the comic though, with an ending where Ozymandias and Dr. Manhattan die and the remaining characters teleported to the real world created as a result of time travel. In an interview with Variety's Danny Graydon during Warner Bros.'s first possession of feature film rights for Watchmen, 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."

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." Moore's opposition to the film adaptation crystalized after the disappointing 2003 film version of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and he intends to give any resulting royalties from Watchmen to the comic's artist, Dave Gibbons. 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."

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." Gibbons felt it would probably be adapted as a television series like The Prisoner.

In November 2006, 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. Moore signed a deal to go uncredited on the film and give his share of income from it to Gibbons, as he had done on V for Vendetta. Before shooting, Snyder said "[I] totally respect his wishes to not be involved in the movie." Moore expressed discontent over the choice of the director, saying that he "had a lot of problems" with the comic book 300 and that, while he had not seen it, he had heard that Snyder's film adaptation was racist, homophobic, and "sublimely stupid". Dave Gibbons enjoyed the script by Alex Tse, and gave Snyder some script advice which the director accepted. He drew licensing art for the film, consulted on merchandise and the webcomics, publicizing the film with Snyder and wrote a tie-in book about the creation of the comic, entitled Watching the Watchmen. He also blogged about his visit to the set. Moore did not mind Gibbons' involvement and felt it did not have any impact on their friendship. Snyder asked Gibbons to draw up a storyboard for the film's altered ending, which the comics' colorist John Higgins also returned to work on. Gibbons believed watching the film on DVD would emulate flipping through the book, with viewers pausing or rewinding the film to catch details.

Release

Marketing

Video games

For the video game, see Watchmen: The End Is Nigh.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will publish an episodic video game to be released alongside the film called Watchmen: The End Is Nigh. WB took this low-key approach to adapting the film to avoid rushing the game on this tight schedule, as most film games are panned by critics and gamers. The game is set in the 1970s, and is written by Len Wein, the comic's editor. Dave Gibbons is also an advisor.

On March 4, 2009 Glu Mobile released Watchmen: The Mobile Game, a beat 'em up mobile game featuring Nite Owl and The Comedian fighting enemies in their respective settings of New York City and Vietnam.

Music

Two albums, Watchmen: Music From the Motion Picture and Watchmen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack were released on February 24, 2009 by Warner Sunset and Reprise Records. Additionally, a 12" vinyl picture disc was released on January 27, 2009. The A-side features My Chemical Romance's cover version of "Desolation Row", originally by Bob Dylan and the B-side features "Prison Fight" composed by Tyler Bates for the film's score. Both songs will also be featured on the Music From the Motion Picture and Original Motion Picture Soundtrack albums, respectively. Also a box set consisting of seven 7" picture disks will be released on March 24, 2009. This set will include My Chemical Romance performing "Desolation Row" as well as thirteen tracks from the Tyler Bates score.

Other

As a promotion for the film, Warner Bros. Entertainment released Watchmen: Motion Comics, a series of narrated animations of the original comic book. The first chapter was released for purchase in the summer of 2008 on digital video stores, such as iTunes Store and Amazon Video on Demand.

DC Direct will release action figures based on the film in January 2009. Director Zack Snyder also set up a YouTube contest petitioning Watchmen fans to create faux commercials of products made by the fictional Veidt Enterprises. The producers also released two short video pieces online which were intended to be viral videos, that are designed as fictional backstory pieces with one being a 1970 newscast marking the 10th anniversary of the public appearance of Doctor Manhattan and a short propaganda film promoting the Keene Act of 1977, which made it illegal to be a superhero without government support. DC Comics reissued Watchmen #1 for the original cover price of $1.50 on December 10, 2008; no other issues are to be reprinted.

An official viral marketing web site, The New Frontiersman, is named after the tabloid magazine featured in the graphic novel, and contains teasers styled as declassified documents.

DVD releases

Tales of the Black Freighter, a comic within the Watchmen comic, will be adapted as a direct-to-video animated feature from Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Animation, which will be released on March 24, 2009. It was originally included in the script, but was cut due to budget restrictions, as the segment would have added $20 million to the budget, because Snyder wanted to film it in a stylized manner reminiscent of 300. Snyder considered including the animated film in the final cut, but the film was already approaching a three hour running time. Gerard Butler, who starred in 300, voices the Captain in the film, having been promised a role in the film, which never materialized. Jared Harris voices his deceased friend Ridley, whom the Captain hallucinates is talking to him. Snyder had Butler and Harris record their parts together.

The Tales of the Black Freighter DVD will also include Under the Hood, a documentary detailing the characters' backstories, which takes its title from that of Hollis Mason's memoirs in the comic book. Under the Hood is rated PG because of the friendly public image of the characters. The actors were allowed to improvise during filming interviews in character. The film itself is scheduled to be released on DVD four months after Tales of the Black Freighter, and Warner Bros. will release a director's cut and the extended version in July 2009, with the animated film edited back into the main picture. Snyder said if the film does well enough, the director's cut will be simultaneously theatrically released in New York and Los Angeles. In addition, the Watchmen: Motion Comics, which appeared in digital video stores will also be released on DVD on March 3 and include an exclusive scene from the movie.

Litigation

On February 14, 2008, 20th Century Fox brought a lawsuit against Warner Bros. that alleged copyright infringement on the Watchmen film property. The studio believed that it retained the rights to produce the film, or at least distribute it, no matter how many studios Watchmen has passed through, and sought to block its release. Warner Bros. said that Fox has repeatedly failed to exercise its rights over various incarnations of the production. Through producer Lawrence Gordon, Fox had bought the rights to the comic book in 1986. Fox alleges that when it put the project into turnaround in 1994, a separate 1991 deal that transferred some of the rights to Gordon still gave them the option of retaining distribution and sequel rights to the film, and a share of the profits, should it be made by any other studio. Fox's interpretation of the 1994 turnaround deal also meant that Gordon would not fully control the rights until the studio's development costs (estimated by Fox at $1 million) had been reimbursed. Despite originally passing on the project, Fox also alleged that its agreement with Gordon contained a "changed elements" clause, meaning that if Gordon changed any of the key creative personnel on the film, Fox would have first option on participation. The studio said that Gordon did not inform them of Snyder's joining the production in 2005.

After the project had passed through the hands of several studios, Warner Bros. began developing Watchmen in 2005. Fox alleges that it contacted Warner Bros. before production began and told the studio that it had violated Fox's 1991 and 1994 deals with Gordon. Warner Bros. claimed that it was originally unaware of either deal, and that in 2005 Fox had declined to produce the Hayter screenplay that formed the basis of the production. Warner Bros. also claimed that the 1994 deal did not cover distribution rights and had conferred upon Gordon all the rights he needed to take the film to Warner Bros. The studio's motion to dismiss the case in August 2008 was rejected by the judge. Snyder said that no one had attempted to prevent his completing the film and that the production was proceeding as normal.

On December 24, 2008, Judge Gary A. Feess ruled that he intended to grant 20th Century Fox's claim to a copyright interest in the film. An attorney for 20th Century Fox said that the studio would seek an order to delay the release of Watchmen.

Producer Lloyd Levin revealed in an open letter that in 2005 both Fox and Warner Brothers were offered the chance to make Watchmen. Fox passed on the project while Warner Brothers made a deal to acquire the movie rights and move forward with development. An internal Fox email documented that executives at Fox felt the script was "one of the most unintelligible pieces of shit they had read in years".

On January 15, 2009, the trade press reported that Fox and Warner Bros. had reached a settlement. Fox will receive a settlement and a share of box office, but no future ownership: The official statement reads, "Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox have resolved their dispute regarding the rights to the upcoming motion picture Watchmen in a confidential settlement. Warner Bros acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography. Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith in defending against those claims Warner Bros...." The settlement awarded Fox up to $10 million in development costs and legal fees, plus worldwide gross participation scaling from 5 to 8.5 percent.

Critical reception

The film has so far received mixed to positive reviews. As of March 5, 2009, it holds a "fresh" 63% rating on the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes based on 35 of 64 film critics' reviews (although only a 33% rating from the site's "Top Critics"), with the consensus statement reading, "Visually powerful, intense and uncompromising, Watchmen is an epic comic-book film whose technical and thematic strengths are tempered somewhat by its narrative shortcomings." Patrick Kolan of IGN, AU gave the film an enormous amount of praise, awarding it a perfect 10/10 and saying "It's the Watchmen film you always wanted to see, but never expected to get". Also praising the film along with another perfect score (5/5) was Kyle Smith of the New York Post, comparing it to some of Stanley Kubrick films "Director Zack Snyder's cerebral, scintillating follow-up to "300" seems, to even a weary filmgoer's eye, as fresh and magnificent in sound and vision as '2001'". " Roger Ebert gave it four out of four stars. "It’s a compelling visceral film — sound, images and characters combined into a decidedly odd visual experience that evokes the feel of a graphic novel." Total Film awarded it 4/5 stars, stating: "It's hard to imagine anyone watching the Watchmen as faithfully as Zack Snyder's heartfelt, stylised adap. Uncompromising, uncommercial, and unique.". Nick Dent of Time Out Sydney gave the film 4/6 in his review of February 25, praising the film's inventiveness but concluding, "While Watchmen is still as rich, daring, and intelligent an action film as there's ever been, it also proves Moore absolutely right [to distrust adaptations]. As a comic book, Watchmen is an extraordinary thing. As a movie, it's just another movie, awash with sound and fury."

The negative reviews generally cite the film's much-advertised "reverence" to the source material, as statically replicating – rather than interpreting – Alan Moore's graphic novel. Devin Gordon wrote for Newsweek, "That's the trouble with loyalty. Too little, and you alienate your core fans. Too much, and you lose everyone – and everything – else." Owen Gleiberman's Entertainment Weekly review reads, "[Snyder] treats each image with the same stuffy hermetic reverence. He doesn't move the camera or let the scenes breathe. He crams the film with bits and pieces, trapping his actors like bugs wriggling in the frame." David Edelstein of New York Magazine agrees: "They’ve made the most reverent adaptation of a graphic novel ever. But this kind of reverence kills what it seeks to preserve. The movie is embalmed." The trade magazines Variety and The Hollywood Reporter were less taken with the film. Variety's Justin Chang commented that, "The movie is ultimately undone by its own reverence; there's simply no room for these characters and stories to breathe of their own accord, and even the most fastidiously replicated scenes can feel glib and truncated," and Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter writing, "The real disappointment is that the film does not transport an audience to another world, as 300 did. Nor does the third-rate Chandler-esque narration by Rorschach help...Looks like we have the first real flop of 2009."

Further reading

• Enos, Clay (February 2009). Watchmen: The Film Portraits. Titan Books. p. 240. ISBN 9781848560697.
• Aperlo, Peter (February 2009). Watchmen: The Film Companion. Titan Books. p. 176. ISBN 9781848561595.
• Aperlo, Peter (February 2009). Watchmen: The Art of the Film. Titan Books. p. 256. ISBN 9781848560680.

External links

• Official site
• Official blog
• Watchmen at AllMovie
• Watchmen at IMDb
• Watchmen at Metacritic
• Watchmen at Box Office Mojo
• Watchmen at Rotten Tomatoes
• Watchmen at YouTube

Older development

• Watchmen Screenplay (1989) by Sam Hamm
• Watchmen Screenplay (2003) by David Hayter
• Paul Greengrass Interview, Parts 1, 2, 3
• Watchmen Paramount Project Visit by Ain't It Cool News
• Concept art of Dr. Manhattan 1, 2 from Paramount Pictures