Thursday, August 2, 2007

Who Watches The Watchmen?


Finally some new info and a poster for director Zack Snyder's (he directed 300) adaptation of the Alan Moore's DC comics classic "The Watchmen," drawn by original series artist Dave Gibbons, debuted at the San Diego Comic Con. Now, Warner Brothers has given it an official premier.


They've even cast a lot for it already. So far the cast includes, Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II, Billy Crudup as Dr. Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake/The Comedian, Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs/Rorschach, Malin Akerman as Laurie Juspeczyk/Silk Spectre, Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias, and Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason/Nite Owl I. Shooting begins in Vancouver, Canada in September, and the film is set for release on March 6th, 2009.
The Watchmen was originally published in '86 & '87 as a 12 issue maxi-series. If you enjoyed "V" then this movie is gonna knock your socks off. It is a claustrophobic, pre-millenial, thriller set in the backdrop of the last gasps of Cold War era paranoia - aka the mid 80's. I hope they make a good soundtrack...
The Watchmen, alongside The Dark Knight Returns and Electra Assassin are credited with the turn dark turn that comics took in the late 80's and throughout the last decade and a half. The post modern deconstruction of the superhero mythology is at this point nothing new. But when the watchmen and the dark knight returns were initially released it blew through the comic book world like a tsunami. You simply could not tell straight super hero stories anymore without looking like a naive moron. The modern graphic novel owes it's current success to Alan Moore and i for one can't wait to see this movie!!
more info on The Watchmen is here