'Watchmen' March ' 09 release in jeopardy?

Interesting read

Its an open letter from Lloyd Levin, one of the producers of Watchmen....

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-motion-captured/posts/2009-1-8-an-open-letter-from-watchmen-producers

Wow. That's some "open letter". Not often you get an informer that well-versed, who's willing to lay bare all the shop secrets like that.

It takes guts. Integrity. Fidelity. And not a little desperation.

This smells like despair. Like Warner's is about to get rolled, but good, and so they're taking their case to the public in a last-ditch attempt to stave off disaster.

Note the pleading nature of Mr. Levin's last-ditch effort to get Fox to relent: Please stop. It's not a fair fight. This ain't right. Uncle.

Note that I am in no way skeptical of what he reveals; I'm certain it's the God's honest truth. I just don't think it matters any more.

Foulness, thy name is... Fox.

No cutesy image and snarktastic tagline this time. I'm pissed.

You know, I dont know that much about Watchmen, but from what I've seen and heard you guys talk about, it sounds awesome.

Who is this guy at fox that didnt want to make the movie and now wants to shut it down? I want to know, because when i meet him i wan to punch him right in the face.

I think it's less about simply shutting the movie down than about the potential to usurp it from Warner Bros.' control and release it themselves to make the profit. Or, at the very least, to prevent Warner Bros. from making the profit, because Batman alone basically blew Fox's entire slate out of the water this year.

I say if Fox wins, release the movie anyway. If Bernie Madoff can steal $50 billion and only get house arrest, then you can break a court order and satisfy your audience. Besides, Fox gave us Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet The Spartans for no reasons other than to make people dumb.

Latest news from the most intense battle since Hulk Hogan fought The Undertaker, the two studios lawyers appear to be getting somewhere....

Coming from Comingsoon.net:

Attorneys for rival studios fighting over the release of Watchmen told a federal judge on Friday that they're having fruitful settlement talks, reports The Associated Press.

Attorneys for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. asked the judge to delay a hearing Friday so those discussions can continue over the weekend.

U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess agreed to continue the hearing but says a trial over whether to block the film's March release is still set for Jan. 20.

Lou Karasik, who is representing Fox, told Feess that the delay would be "very, very helpful" to settlement discussions he deemed "productive."

Don't know if we should be taking this with a pinch of salt, but I do like to remain hopeful of a March release.

...[T]he two studios['] lawyers appear to be getting somewhere... Don't know if we should be taking this with a pinch of salt, but I do like to remain hopeful of a March release.

Thanks for the update, Herald. I just hope they get this bullshit squared away before February 1st... My Super Contest slate may depend on it! (Though I still remain fairly certain Watchmen won't break into the year's Top 10 earners.)


Great seat. Now all you need is a f@$%in' movie

Is that Dennis Hopper at Hell Ride/Swing Vote/An American Carol?

Agreed Busc. While I think Fox's claim is pretty stupid, especially since it's being made now, I'm not really rooting for the company who cut a movie that needs to be at least 3 hours long into a mere 1h 45m to appease the lowest common denominator.

Buscemi wrote:Is that Dennis Hopper at Hell Ride

lol!! coincidentally, i just finished Hell Ride about 5 seconds ago.. boy, what a mess

Yeah, Hell Ride sucked...

mfrendo wrote:Agreed Busc. While I think Fox's claim is pretty stupid, especially since it's being made now, I'm not really rooting for the company who cut a movie that needs to be at least 3 hours long into a mere 1h 45m to appease the lowest common denominator.

woah! who said its an hour and 45 minutes long?????

NSpan wrote:

Buscemi wrote:Is that Dennis Hopper at Hell Ride

lol!! coincidentally, i just finished Hell Ride about 5 seconds ago.. boy, what a mess

I still haven't seen Hell Ride actually. I was referring to the low box office numbers of it despite Tarantino's name.

undeadmonkey wrote:

mfrendo wrote:Agreed Busc. While I think Fox's claim is pretty stupid, especially since it's being made now, I'm not really rooting for the company who cut a movie that needs to be at least 3 hours long into a mere 1h 45m to appease the lowest common denominator.

woah! who said its an hour and 45 minutes long?????

I've heard that on quite a few other forums, actually thought it was public knowledge. Guess the company thought it was too long, and cut it for theaters, with directors cut coming to dvd.

mfrendo wrote:Agreed Busc. While I think Fox's claim is pretty stupid, especially since it's being made now, I'm not really rooting for the company who cut a movie that needs to be at least 3 hours long into a mere 1h 45m to appease the lowest common denominator.

I've decided that I'm going to see the movie (If I'm lucky enough to get to see the movie) and try to enjoy it for what it is regardless of what they do to it. I did the same thing with V for Vendetta. I know that there is no possible way that they can adapt the graphic novel to the screen so I will just enjoy the fact that someone attempted to visualize a story that I have loved for years. The book is the book and the movie will be the movie, and hopefully I will enjoy the latter.

The only way Watchmen could have ever been properly adapted would to have done a 12 part series on HBO with each episode being one issue of the comic. Seeing as how that is never going to happen, I will just have to be satisfied with Snyder's vision of what makes it to the final cut. I'm sure I'll enjoy the director's cut DVD a hell of a lot more especially with the added Tales of the Black Freighter.

On a side note, just read this morning that AMC will doing a re-make of The Prisoner this Fall starring Jim Cavezial and Ian McKellan

mfrendo wrote:

undeadmonkey wrote:

mfrendo wrote:Agreed Busc. While I think Fox's claim is pretty stupid, especially since it's being made now, I'm not really rooting for the company who cut a movie that needs to be at least 3 hours long into a mere 1h 45m to appease the lowest common denominator.

woah! who said its an hour and 45 minutes long?????

I've heard that on quite a few other forums, actually thought it was public knowledge. Guess the company thought it was too long, and cut it for theaters, with directors cut coming to dvd.

hmm.... I was expecting a long epic movie...

I've decided that I'm going to see the movie (If I'm lucky enough to get to see the movie) and try to enjoy it for what it is regardless of what they do to it. I did the same thing with V for Vendetta. I know that there is no possible way that they can adapt the graphic novel to the screen so I will just enjoy the fact that someone attempted to visualize a story that I have loved for years. The book is the book and the movie will be the movie, and hopefully I will enjoy the latter.

[Nodding] Yeah, that sounds about right, Kaiser (Nico-name!) I went into Vendetta cold... Somehow, I'd managed to go my whole entire life never reading the Alan Moore / David Lloyd graphic novel (consternation! uproar!), which ended up, actually, probably lessening the cinematic experience. (It took me a good couple of years of frequent re-watchings to genuinely appreciate V, but I can now claim to be a bona fide fan of the James McTeigue film.)

Remember, tho: There's no reason to (necessarily) be downcast, or pessimistic, about seeing Watchmen. I went into the first Lord of the Rings film with pretty much the same attitude you're steeling yourself with, and, hey, look how that turned out! And, though I loved what Peter Jackson had crafted in Heavenly Creatures, and was ALMOST able to pull off in The Frighteners, I out-and-out DESPISED Meet the Feebles, and was in no way convinced that the Duke of Wellington would be able to rein J.R.R. Tolkein's sprawling masterpiece in and craft a faithful, commercially viable actual cinematic experience out of it. I know there are a lot of folks out there who didn't appreciate 300 OR Dawn of the Dead, who consider him nothing more substantial or laudable than a momentarily hip one-trick hack second only to J.J. Abrams (you know who you are, you communists), but you can say one thing about him at minimum: Here's a guy who really, really strives to be faithful to the source / inspirational material, while inmbuing it with a certain unrestrained and giddy modernity and utilizing all the latest tools and tricks to capture the spirit of the original work. He may not always succeed, entirely, but damn if I don't love and respect his effort. That's a damn sight better than dozens of other "name" Hollywood directors, who are indisputably talented but have over the course of decades filled with professional accolades and financial rewards learned to temper their lofty aspirations with career-preserving restraint and bank-account-inflating mediocrity. (You know who you are, you communists.)

The only way Watchmen could have ever been properly adapted would to have done a 12 part series on HBO with each episode being one issue of the comic.

Damn, but that would have been a sight to see. Do it as almost an anthology, with different directors taking on each segment, and screw the 58-minute format... Give each episode time to unfold as the writers and directors see fit, allow the audience to luxuriate (one of my favorite little-used words, btw) in the language and the flashbacks and the mystery and the complex tapestry of visual cues. Couldn't you just see Bryan Singer directing Chapter I, "At Midnight, All the Agents...", or Clint Eastwood behind the lens of Chapter II ("Absent Friends")? Nicholas Meyer for Chapter III ("The Judge of All the Earth"), and Sam Raimi for Chapter IV ("Watchmaker")? Who wouldn't want Terry Gilliam for the penultimate installment ("Look on My Works, Ye Mighty...", or Joss Whedon for the final part ("A Stronger Loving World")? And who wouldn't want J. Michael Straczynski, Orson Scott Card and Ronald D. Moore to script ALL of it? Good God, I'm sunk in a sea of almost indescribably suffocating fanwankery.

Seeing as how that is never going to happen, I will just have to be satisfied with Snyder's vision of what makes it to the final cut. I'm sure I'll enjoy the director's cut DVD a hell of a lot more especially with the added Tales of the Black Freighter.

SWIPED, just in case there's anyone who wants to remain unspoiled. --ed.

On a side note, just read this morning that AMC will doing a re-make of The Prisoner this Fall starring Jim Cavezial and Ian McKellan.

Yeah, I've been following that would-be production since long before even Mr. Gilliam was attached (oh, so very, very long ago), and I love both the primary actors, but I can't say I like the casting here. To me the concept demands no-name (perhaps vaguely familiar, but not instantly identifiable) actors, and I hate the Americanization of the story. I wish RDM would have taken this on... In this era of near-ubiquitous CCTV monitoring, international extraordinary rendition protocols, Patriot Law surveillance permissions and morally questionable interstate cooperation, a thoughtful and contemplative Prisoner could be really, really something... But there I go, ignoring my own advice and acting as if it's doomed to be yet another Andromeda Strain debacle. [Grin]

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.

And that God was a myth.

hmm.... I was expecting a long epic movie...

Two words, spectralsimian: Blu-ray. Okay, maybe it's just the one word, hypenated. [Grin]

mfrendo wrote:I've heard that on quite a few other forums, actually thought it was public knowledge. Guess the company thought it was too long, and cut it for theaters, with directors cut coming to dvd.

to my knowledge, i don't think there IS a final word on this yet

I wouldn't let Joss Whedon touch Watchmen. The guy was only good as a script doctor, Buffy only works as a comedy and Firefly/Serenity is a wannabe hipster Star Trek clone.

Buscemi wrote:I wouldn't let Joss Whedon touch Watchmen. The guy was only good as a script doctor, Buffy only works as a comedy and Firefly/Serenity is a wannabe hipster Star Trek clone.

yeah, his style is more in-line with Sam Raimi.. even at Whedon's best, it still comes off looking like an episode of Xena

[...I] don't think there IS a final word on this yet...

Well... That's true, but then again, for that matter I doubt anyone can claim of a "final word" on whether the FILM ITSELF is going to ever see the light of day (or the cinematic lack therof, natch), with or without ANY of the material that made the graphic novel incontrovertibly Watchmen... This is perhaps the most problematic major-studio project since Titanic, certainly since The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, or for that matter any of a dozen titles Terry Gilliam was attached to at one time or other.

However, I think certain things are pretty well assured for the present (but could change dramatically when Judge Feess rules on Fox's suit, which I believe is scheduled for Monday). Zack Snyder gave an interview to one of the personalities over at AICN way back in July '07 (at that year's San Diego Comic-con I think), at a point when the script had been locked and they were deep into pre-production, in which he talked about how the Black Freighter material was definitely going to be absent from the theatrical release, but would be available on DVD as part of a broader marketing strategy and also would find its way into an eventual complete-edition home release of the title. Then, just recently (December 3, 2008) Deborah (Mrs.) Snyder was featured on Sci Fi Wire (SciFi.com) stating that the most recent theatrical cut to emerge from the editing room was 2 hours, 35 minutes, with the director's edition being locked at 3:10 and the "complete" version of the film, with Black Freighter footage edited in to the director's cut version of the film, coming in at 3:40 or so. Mrs. Snyder took pains to stress that the studio had not yet approved a "final" length and seemed to indicate that more cuts were coming, although she also hinted that the theatrical release would remain substantially longer than 300 (1:58). So, while I don't think mfrendo's assertion about Watchmen being emasculated into oblivion at 1:45 is exactly correct, neither will what is released to theaters be quite the total experience many of us were (perhaps unreasonably, considering it is after all a major-studio release) hoping for.

Then again... Focus Features, a subsidiary of major studio (NBC) Universal, released Steven Soderbergh's Che this past year, which ran to a soul-killing 268 minutes (just shy of four and a half hours, or fully 3/4 of an hour longer than Gone With the Wind). But, there were never any serious expectations for Che at the box office, either.

The Sci Fi Wire article featuring interviews with Zack and Debbie Snyder can be read here: Watchmen Gets Shorter. And the Watchmen director's interview with AICN's 'Quint' is here: Zack Snyder and Quint have a brief conversation about WATCHMEN!

Hope that clarifies things somewhat. It'd be nice if it remained reliable for another 48 hours or so.


Watchmen is coming. Trust me

Swedgin! wrote:

The only way Watchmen could have ever been properly adapted would to have done a 12 part series on HBO with each episode being one issue of the comic.

Damn, but that would have been a sight to see. Do it as almost an anthology, with different directors taking on each segment, and screw the 58-minute format... Give each episode time to unfold as the writers and directors see fit, allow the audience to luxuriate (one of my favorite little-used words, btw) in the language and the flashbacks and the mystery and the complex tapestry of visual cues.

On a side note, just read this morning that AMC will doing a re-make of The Prisoner this Fall starring Jim Cavezial and Ian McKellan.

Yeah, I've been following that would-be production since long before even Mr. Gilliam was attached (oh, so very, very long ago), and I love both the primary actors, but I can't say I like the casting here. To me the concept demands no-name (perhaps vaguely familiar, but not instantly identifiable) actors, and I hate the Americanization of the story. I wish RDM would have taken this on... In this era of near-ubiquitous CCTV monitoring, international extraordinary rendition protocols, Patriot Law surveillance permissions and morally questionable interstate cooperation, a thoughtful and contemplative Prisoner could be really, really something... But there I go, ignoring my own advice and acting as if it's doomed to be yet another Andromeda Strain debacle. [Grin]

I'm very, very nervous about the rameka of The Prisoner. Being a fan of the original, I'm worried that the ITV (AMC are just broadcasting) remake will focus too much on the kitsch surrealism of the original (sa product of the time) and recreate that, or else not update the show's moral and social concerns, and instantly make itself anachronistic. The Prisoner was dark for the 60s, and it should be dark now. Not only that, but it ended in one of the most controversial ways- by closing on a metaphorical note (notice how the door closes in the final shot), ignoring any easy explanation. You didn't see anything as ballsy as that until Twin Peaks came along.

I think McKellan will be a brilliany Number 2, and Caza... Cass... Jesus should be a suitable Number 6, though I would have preferred Gary Oldman or David Thewlis, who share PAtrick McGoohan's theatrical origins and all three can look pretty darn pissed off when they have to.

As for Watchmen, settlement negotiation are going on tomorrow, hence the court decision being delayed until tomorrow. I read a post last week in which someone accused this whole situation as being a giant publicity stunt, that is was very unlikely that either WB or Fox were unaware of the logal situation, and they decided to play this out for media attention. Not sure what Fox would get out of that, but if this is settled, I would become suspicious. For this is a great opportunity for Fox to take down the top earning studio of 2008, so why wouldn't they do everything possible to fight dirty and get Snyder's MTV version of Watchmen delayed.

Oh yeah, and didn't Terry Gilliam want to make Watchmen into a series with HBO? And isn't that what HBO are now doing with The Preacher?

I heard that Terry Gilliam was going to do the Watchman as a movie, but said he needed 8 films to do the story justice. After hearing that, it's kind of scary that it's been made into one film by the maker of 300.

mfrendo wrote:it's kind of scary that it's been made into one film by the maker of 300.

for anyone who has read 300, they know that Snyder will go to great lengths to recreate the content, the visuals, and the spirit of the source material

numbersix_99 wrote:isn't that what HBO are now doing with The Preacher?

i think those plans have been scrapped.. (good riddance)

NSpan wrote:
for anyone who has read 300, they know that Snyder will go to great lengths to recreate the content, the visuals, and the spirit of the source material

So the comic was vacuous, moronic, and all-style-no-content?

I've voiced my concerns before, and voiced them again, Snyder has yet to display any ability to work with character, and since Watchmen is ALL character, I'm worried.