WATCHMEN Movie Discussion (book SPOILERS)

Bannister said:

I imagine Fox waited until the film was done so they would have more leverage.

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Thats what I would have done.

King Darkness said:

Thats what I would have done.

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Jackass!!!

So does anyone else think we won't get the real version of Watchmen until it hits DVD with a directors cut? Especially after reading past interviews.

Batty said:

Jackass!!!

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HELL YEAH

wofford29 said:

So does anyone else think we won't get the real version of Watchmen until it hits DVD with a directors cut? Especially after reading past interviews.

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The director guy said he has about 3 hours shot, no way that makes it to theaters.

DVD is where is movie is gonna really kick ass!

Well Snyder already has Tales of the Black Freighter done as an animation that will be released along with Under the Hood on DVD around the time of the flick but it's my understanding that he eventually wants to edit everything back into the film as one long Directors Ultimate Edition (on BR wheee!). That's the version I want because it will probably be amazingly close to what we get in the novel.

King Darkness said:

The director guy said he has about 3 hours shot, no way that makes it to theaters.

DVD is where is movie is gonna really kick ass!

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Yeah, the feeling I got from the last interview I read is that Synder has his vision of the movie in his head and he's fighting all he can to get it to the screen, but ultimately the studio is going to win out. I just hope they didn't change the ending to much, and the made up and added alternative fuel sub plot doesn't play out like a political message.

wofford29 said:

Yeah, the feeling I got from the last interview I read is that Synder has his vision of the movie in his head and he's fighting all he can to get it to the screen, but ultimately the studio is going to win out. I just hope they didn't change the ending to much, and the made up and added alternative fuel sub plot doesn't play out like a political message.

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It's not really made up.. just expanded upon. There are references to the fact that Jon's existence sped up technology and such and they make numerous mention about the electric cars (which sadly look to just be ordinary cars in the film). Now how much it was expanded I don't think anyone really knows right now but it's not really anything that wasn't in Watchmen before.

Memnoch21 said:

It's not really made up.. just expanded upon. There are references to the fact that Jon's existence sped up technology and such and they make numerous mention about the electric cars (which sadly look to just be ordinary cars in the film). Now how much it was expanded I don't think anyone really knows right now but it's not really anything that wasn't in Watchmen before.

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Sure it's touched upon, but it's not a sub plot in the book. To reach that status it has to be entirely made up and expanded for the film. It can be based on reference, but if it becomes a sub plot that's something entirely new. This and the ending are really my only concerns about it. Other than that I have faith.

wofford29 said:

Yeah, the feeling I got from the last interview I read is that Synder has his vision of the movie in his head and he's fighting all he can to get it to the screen, but ultimately the studio is going to win out. I just hope they didn't change the ending to much, and the made up and added alternative fuel sub plot doesn't play out like a political message.

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I dunno, I think Watchmen was always intended to have very strong political messages (some of which obviously don't have the same impact today as they did in the 80's)... I'm not sure how I feel about adding a made-up subplot just yet, but if I do have a problem with it, it won't be due to the fact that it's political in nature.

Im more concerned with the ending. The whole point is that Veidt DOES get away with it and lives, and I like the ambiguity of "does the kid go for the diary or no?". They should leave it as-is but for some reason I dont think the electric car sub-plot is going to be as big as we think. I mean really.. it wouldn't even be that interesting to watch.

Memnoch21 said:

Im more concerned with the ending. The whole point is that Veidt DOES get away with it and lives, and I like the ambiguity of "does the kid go for the diary or no?". They should leave it as-is but for some reason I dont think the electric car sub-plot is going to be as big as we think. I mean really.. it wouldn't even be that interesting to watch.

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I agree I don't think the alternative fuel thing is going to be as prominent as people are fearing. Also, if I had to guess, I'd bet that they won't change the fact that Veidt "pushes the button" and gets away with it. I have a feeling there is just no giant jellyfish beast involved this time, and that it's a more standard nuclear disaster type of thing.

I have a feeling that we won't get too many changes especially with the positive buzz surrounding it already, WB already cleared this for an "R", if they were going to get seriously involved we would have seen them pushing for a "PG-13" already.

Andy Bergholtz said:

I dunno, I think Watchmen was always intended to have very strong political messages (some of which obviously don't have the same impact today as they did in the 80's)... I'm not sure how I feel about adding a made-up subplot just yet, but if I do have a problem with it, it won't be due to the fact that it's political in nature.

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Which is partly why it's one of the things I'm concerned about. It absolutely had political overtones in the 80s. Leave it at that though, don't try and add in something new so that it can make a political statement today. That in my opinion would be taking away from the book. I have no problem if it doesn't get in the way of the tone of the film, but mixing a new political sub plot with politics from the 80s is going to be interesting to see for sure. My whole point is don't try and make this movie relevant today, by adding something that's not needed. It'll be relevant regardless.

Andy Bergholtz said:

I agree I don't think the alternative fuel thing is going to be as prominent as people are fearing. Also, if I had to guess, I'd bet that they won't change the fact that Veidt "pushes the button" and gets away with it. I have a feeling there is just no giant jellyfish beast involved this time, and that it's a more standard nuclear disaster type of thing.

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See, that's what makes me most sad as I love that idea but I can see that going. I mean without the extra material about the missing artists and such that was provided in the bits at the end of each chapter (or issue) it would be more of a "WTF is going on" moment as you have no idea who these people are or what this creature is. ... But in just thinking on it that alone would alter the story drastically as any nuclear attack would probably be seen as a Russian attack and would actually start WWIII and not bring the global peace Veidt brings with his "alien" invasion. Hmm interesting.

wofford29 said:

Which is partly why it's one of the things I'm concerned about. It absolutely had political overtones in the 80s. Leave it at that though, don't try and add in something new so that it can make a political statement today. That in my opinion would be taking away from the book. I have no problem if it doesn't get in the way of the tone of the film, but mixing a new political sub plot with politics from the 80s is going to be interesting to see for sure. My whole point is don't try and make this movie relevant today, by adding something that's not needed. It'll be relevant regardless.

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I totally agree with you. I really hate the idea of fooling with an already perfect story, even in an attempt to make it more relevant to today's political climate. The story is already universally relevant, which WB probably doesn't get.

Memnoch21 said:

See, that's what makes me most sad as I love that idea but I can see that going. I mean without the extra material about the missing artists and such that was provided in the bits at the end of each chapter (or issue) it would be more of a "WTF is going on" moment as you have no idea who these people are or what this creature is. ... But in just thinking on it that alone would alter the story drastically as any nuclear attack would probably be seen as a Russian attack and would actually start WWIII and not bring the global peace Veidt brings with his "alien" invasion. Hmm interesting.

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I have all the same concerns, definitely. It's no wonder this story has always been regarded as "un-filmable", because it truly is. The only way to do it justice would be a very high-budget mini-series on HBO or something, where you could literally make 6-9 hours out of it. Otherwise it's going to require some really fancy footwork to pull off.

I respect Snyder a LOT after reading his EW interview a few weeks back. He found out that WB was planning to make a Watchmen movie one way or another, and he jumped on the project simply out of fear that WB would make a terrible adaptation in any other director's hands (and after hearing snippets about the proposed Paul Greengrass version, his fears were justified!). There was never any hope of a perfectly true adaptaion of Watchmen with a major studio at the helm, and with that in mind I think Snyder really is the best possible choice for the job based on his passon for the original story.

That's why when adapting works from mediums such as novels or graphic novels (Watchmen being the best example) I would much rather high budget mini series. With a film you're tied to at absolute most 3 hours which can never really do a story from a novel/graphic novel justice.

Andy Bergholtz said:

I totally agree with you. I really hate the idea of fooling with an already perfect story, even in an attempt to make it more relevant to today's political climate. The story is already universally relevant, which WB probably doesn't get.

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I'm not sure it could be more relevant to today's political climate. Veidt's master plan was basically 9/11. What makes Watchmen even more interesting now of course is that real life shows Veidt fails and his effort was for nothing. For all its sophistication, it's an incredibly naive book.

And Rorshach's diary is a red herring. Even if the paper publishes it, nobody will believe it's real except a handful of conspiracy theorist maniacs.

Here's all the legal documents about the case.

https://uncivilsociety.org/2008/08/watchmen-lawsuit-original-docu.html

I've been involved in reading and writing entertainment agreements for some time and after looking at these it appears that WB doesn't really have a leg to stand on. Fox has them by the cojones, thanks to Larry Gordon.

But it is ironic that Paramount greenlit the movie some years ago and Fox said nothing. When Paramount finally abandoned the project and it was offered in turnaround to all the studios - Fox still said nothing. Only after the picture has finished principal photograhy does Fox do anything. Either they were asleep at the switch, or it's masterful manipulation. Either way - WB is going to have to pay up big time I think.