Yes, “Watchmen”-mania hit last week and we did a big piece reviewing the the photos, the trailer, two of the big Entertainment Weekly interviews, with director Zack Snyder and creator/writer Alan Moore, but now there was lots to parse in those 12-odd pages.
One of the noticeable things we missed in the first go-round further illustrates how staunch Alan Moore in his disavowing of the project and all things Hollywood and mainstream comics.
As we wrote last week: Moore’ s moral code is not unlike the masked psychopath character Rorschach’s. He detests D.C. Comics – the company that owns “Watchmen” – and Warner Bros. (both companies are under “strict orders not to contact him.”) Moore has absolutely zero interest in Hollywood and the dude is such a righteous man of his word you could pretty much bet the farm that that will never ever change.
However, a few other things to note. Moore has made sure that any onscreen mention or credits of his name on the “Watchmen” movie have been removed (not the first time he has done this) and more insanely, he’s abdicated all of his royalty checks from the movie (which must be a considerable amount) to the original comic book artist David Gibbons. Is this guy moralistic or what?
Also of note, EW says a few scenes of the film they saw contain the use of Bob Dylan’s iconic, “The Times Are A Changin’ ” which is fitting considering the political unrest tones of the comic, but whether Zimmy will grant D.C./Warners the licensing of that song seems doubtful (though anything’s possible).
Purists should take note, the ending of the film – which is rather bleak without being too spoiler-y – apparently has been changed slightly, although actor Patrick Wilson just told MTV recently that it hadn’t. Apparently “Watchmen” is currently 3 1/2 hours long right now, but Warners says a 2 hour and 25 minute version is the realistic number they are looking at for next March.
The EW piece also notes that actors Daniel Craig, Sigourney Weaver and Jude Law were all interested in ‘Watchmen’ when the the director and WB were first doing casting, but Snyder didn’t want big names detracting from the story. Other directors who have failed to get ‘Watchmen’ off the ground include Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky and most recently, Paul Greengrass (for years many, including Moore, had said the comic was unfilmable and should be left untouched).
Snyder is well-aware what a truncated version of this story could mean to rapturous fans and his reputation among then. “I keep telling them, ‘Guys I can’t take this out! Don’t you understand’!? If I fuck this up, I might as well start making romantic comedies!’
Snyder is kind of damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t; it’s a no win situation, but if he’s smart, he’ll screen the long-version to key geek critics a few short weeks before the movie opens, they’ll likely all get into a lather and fans will get amped, and have their expectations managed (they’ll know the long-version will be great on DVD and they’ll go in knowing this is the studio cut). It also sounds like the Pirate subplot of the graphic novel won’t make the theatrical release, which is frankly a good thing because if you’re not going to fully show it, it’ll just be confusing to audiences.