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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Watchmen

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06:09 / 06.05.04

Aronofsky has mentioned that Watchmen is his dream project. I don't see how even if he fails to adapt it well, it couldn't be the most interesting film of it's year.

And there's a continent of difference between the depth and maturity of Pi and Reqiuem.

We're The Great Old Ones Now

09:37 / 06.05.04

Bite your tongue. A lousy adaptation is alchemical. It turns gold into offal, genius into substandard product. Example: "The Postman" by David Brin, is one of the best simple SF novels I've read. It's lyrical and sad, exciting and funny. It's not earth-shaking, but it's very, very good at what it is.

Seen the movie? Ever heard of the movie? It's a stinker. It's so bad, it makes Waterworld look like Apocalypse Now. It's worse than Liquid Sky. It's worse than Cast a Deadly Spell. It's worse, God help us, than the all-in amniotic fluid male nude wrestling sequence in the Brannagh Frankenstein.

Believe me when I say that a bad adaptation could be very, very bad.

10:13 / 06.05.04

As long as they do Ozymandias catching Laurie's shot in bullet-time, I'll be happy

HIIIII-

YA!

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:32 / 06.05.04

If done right, it would a film that could take advantage of the cinematic medium in the same way that the book takes advantage of comics.

See, this is what I was thinking. And to do this properly, you would by necessity fuck off a lot of comic purists- the Black Freighter sequence, for example, would have to be replaced by some kind of movie homage, rather than a tribute to EC/horror comics. Maybe some kind of Errol Flynn-style old pirate movie?

I'm thinking of how Cronenberg's Naked Lunch (the way I saw it) was a brilliant film ABOUT the same stuff the book was about (Burroughs/Lee's relocation from society to "Interzone"/smack, from where he sent back reports, even when his friends begged him to come home)... but didn't follow it because it wouldn't have fitted the medium (for which, read "unfilmable").

12:42 / 06.05.04

Or Kaufman/Jonez' "Adaptation," which wasn't at all a literal adaptation of the "Orchid Thief" novel, but in the story of Kaufman struggling to translate the book to screenplay, strongly echoed the themes from Orlean's novel, and thus actually *was* an adaptation after all...

Interesting.

12:46 / 06.05.04

I'm not sure why they would need to replace the Black Freighter stuff at all. That whole business is stuff that obviously get chopped out to make the story lean enough to fit into even 2.5 hours.

I'm more concerned that they're probably going to have to cut down/out the storyline about Rorshach's psychiatrist, which is one of my favorite parts of the series.

13:27 / 06.05.04

Okay then, the trick is to figure out the bare essentials to tell the story.

I propose:

The Comedian's death
Rorshach's investigation into the mask killer
Manhattan's departure to Mars and back
Rorschach's capture and escape
The confrontation at Karnak II
The alien attack and the aftermath

Bare bones but I think this gets us from A to B to C coherently.

Thoughts?

14:43 / 29.09.04

This rather surprised me at first, but I'm warming to the idea...

"Shaun of the Dead star Simon Pegg told the UGO Web site that he has been sent the script for the film adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel The Watchmen, and that he would love to play the character Rorschach."

(from http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/)

XXII:X:II = XXX

20:27 / 29.09.04

Heidi Macdonald over on The Beat on comicon.com has reported that Jude Law is keenly interested in playing Ozymandias, and supposedly also has a tattoo of Rorschach. I could see it. Him as Ozymandias, not the tattoo. Anyone got pictures of that?

I once made a list of who I thought should play what in a Watchmen movie, but that list is probably nearly a decade old, and several of the leads are probably now too old to work. Here's how it looks in my mind now, what with people who've expressed interest and my own preferences:

Ozymandias: Jude Law
Rorschach: Simon Peeg
Dr. Manhattan: Matthew Maconaughey
Nite Owl I: Peter Weller
Nite Owl II: John Cusack
Silk Spectre I: [hell, I don't know]
Silk Spectre II: Holly Marie Combs
Comedian: Burt Reynolds

Any major character I'm forgetting?

/+,

20:45 / 29.09.04

If they keep the Rorschach's shrink subplot (and I really don't see how they couldn't, since the "Fearful Symmetry" issue is probably the most notorious part of the series), I can only see said shrink as portrayed by Chi McBride, the Boston Public principal and the chief in Undercover Brother. The guy looks *perfect.*

21:03 / 29.09.04

I can totally see Jude Law in that role: "Call up the toy people, tell them I don't have any enemeies."

Not sure about Burt Reynolds... someone on the board mentioned Denis Farina as the Comedian and I think that's pretty damn perfect.

Would John Cusak be willing to get fat for the role?

23:50 / 29.09.04

He wouldn't have to be fat. Just out of shape.

Holly Marie Combs is a brilliant choice.

XXII:X:II = XXX

06:44 / 30.09.04

Dennis Farina was on that aforementioned list from almost a decade ago. I see him now on "Law & Order" and he looks too old. On the other hand, I'm not sure that Burt Reynolds is any younger, but it could also be yet another career reinvention for the Burtster.

I did have one thought on who could play Silk Spectre I: Marion Ross. That'd also be a completely new kind of role for her.

/+,

Haus of Mystery

19:24 / 01.10.04

Are you serious about Simon Pegg as Rorschach?

22:05 / 01.10.04

Rorschach = David Caruso.

XXII:X:II = XXX

23:59 / 01.10.04

Am *I* serious about Pegg? I think the more relevant question is whether the producers are serious about him. Unfortunately, I can't find the citation right now so I look utterly mad. I'm sure this is no great paradigm shift to you all.

/+,

Jack The Bodiless

21:23 / 06.10.04

Ozymandias: Paul Bettany. He's probably technically too young, but then Ozzy's supposed to be uncannily well-preserved, and if you want Aryan perfection, he's yer man. Accent not a problem, Ozzy's always been an upper-class Yank type, so a slight Atlantic shift should be enough to carry it.

Rorschach: David Caruso. Always has been, ever since NYPD Blue. He's rodent-like, has a great monotone, and he's SHORT AND GINGER. Yo!

Dr. Manhattan: Well, he's gonna have to be ok with being bald, painted blue and nekkid a hell of a lot (and also needs a great body), and will probably need a lot of effects to make him work well, so I'm thinking only an unknown would do it. To be honest, though, I see no reason why he needs to be big bald and blue anyway - that never made sense in the comic.

Nite Owl I: Jack Lemmon back in the day, but he might be too old now, haven't seen a recent pic... if so, then Ian Holm, provided the accent works.

Nite Owl II: Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He might have to lose a little weight, but...

Silk Spectre I: I like Susan Sarandon for this.

Silk Spectre II: Ally Sheedy. She's forty-two now, you know. Christ, don't time fly.

Comedian: Burt Reynolds. Definitely.

Anyone else finding it a bit unlikely that they'd keep the ending, though, post-911?

XXII:X:II = XXX

23:30 / 06.10.04

Jack Lemmon back in the day, but he might be too old now, haven't seen a recent pic...

I don't think you wanna. He's been dead for about a year now.

Susan Sarandon, I feel, is too young, whereas Ally Sheedy is too old. And my suggestion of Matthew Maconaughey is notorious for hanging out with friends, smoking da chron and playing his bongos in the all-together. He's shaven his head for roles before, and I somehow believe that painting himsel fblue wouldn't be much of a departure for him.

/+,

23:42 / 06.10.04

Here's the cast list for the Watchmen movie, as only just confirmed. Rightly or wrongly, I have it on pretty good authority that they're going with the following:

Ozymandias - Tom Cruise

Rorschach - Steve Buscemi

Dr Manhattan - Geoffrey Rush ( Dr Manhattan will be CGI, apparently, so all Geoff will be doing is the voiceover )

Nite Owl 1 - Dan Ackroyd

Nite Owl 11 - Rik Mayall

Silk Spectre 1 - Susan Sarondon

Silk Spectre 11 - Danni Minogue

The Comedian - Jim Carrey, apparently.

I'm not sure it's perfect, but it's going ahead anyway, Adrian Lynne to direct.

02:32 / 07.10.04

Where'd you hear this? I was under the impression that Aronofsky was directing, and hadn't heard anything about Lynne, so I'd quesetion your source.

ONLY NICE THINGS

08:33 / 07.10.04

You know, I'm not at all sure about Geoffrey Rush. Christopher Guest has always been my dream Dr. Manhattan voice, and since he was in "The Princess Bride" with Chris Sarandon, I reckon he and Susan Sarandon must know each other, so I'm not ruling it out *just* yet...

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

08:54 / 07.10.04

Dannii Minogue? Jim Carey? Tom Freakin' Cruise?

RIK MAYALL?!?!?!

Is it April?

XXII:X:II = XXX

09:13 / 07.10.04

Source us, Alex, or you may have a riot on your hands.

Besides, don't you think Tom Cruise playing Ozymandias is a bit close to him actually playing an idealized L. Ron? Would that make WATCHMEN his BATTLEFIELD: EARTH?

Christ, I hope this is a dirty, dirty lie.

/+,

Regrettable Juvenilia

09:25 / 07.10.04

Credulous.

Haus of Mystery

19:15 / 07.10.04

Look into your hearts. This film is going to be shit. You know it.
Look into your hearts...

ONLY NICE THINGS

20:36 / 07.10.04

Alex, if you have been laughing at my dream of a film of Watchmen with Christopher Guest as the voice of a CGI Dr. Manhattan, I will FUCKING DESTROY YOUR HANDS.

21:05 / 07.10.04

Hellsteeth, if we're going to have PSH and Burt Reynolds let's do the P T Anderson Watchmen...

Rorschach: John C Reilly. He could do it!

Dr. Manhattan: Michael Bowen. Stanley's dad from Magnolia. He's got the look.

Nite Owl I: William H Macy. Imagine his face when Dr Manhattan tells him about the electric cars...

Nite Owl II: Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Silk Spectre I: Melinda Dillon. Or a heavily made-up Aimee Mann.

Silk Spectre II: Julianne Moore.

Comedian: Burt Reynolds.

Steve Fine (Detective investigating Comedian's death): Philip Baker Hall.

Dr. Long (Rorschach's therapist): Don Cheadle, bulked up DeNiro style.

Ozymandias: Tom Cruise. If we must.

Moloch: Henry Gibson.

Random Assassin who tries to kill Ozymandias and is smashed in face: Adam Sandler.

And a special cameo from Ricky Jay as Blackbeard. And after the credits as Alan Moore.

Now kill me with this enchanted dagger.

23:05 / 07.10.04

I do like Steve Bucshemi as Rorshach, if only because it's the most obvious choice. Oddly enough, I could totally see Tom Cruise as Ozymandias...I still think it's a joke. Why pay 50 million for Tom Cruise when Jude Law is willing to work ffor less than half that?

23:14 / 07.10.04

While the Pirate Comic sequence is creepy as hell-and one of my favorite parts of the book, I agree that it should be left out of the movie. Let it be a little treasure for truth-seeking neophytes to find.

The minutemen are essential, however-the entire storyline revolves around them. As for the original ending not making it in a post 9/11 world, I really think the American movie-watching public is too dumb to make the connection, so they may as well leave it alone.

01:49 / 08.10.04

I've had a word with my people, who've had a word with their people, who've had a word with their people, this went right to the top. So, to cut a long story short, it now looks like everyone's feeling Christopher Guest. It was the right decision, it was best for the film, but then again, on the other hand, Geoffrey Rush is now outside my flat, shouting. Plus I think he's been drinking.

02:06 / 08.10.04

He's very charismatic, Geoffrey Rush. Possibly the best actor of his whole generation ( I'm being forced to type this, he has a gun to my head. )

Ok, quickly, he's just gone for a slash - can anyone remember some of his better roles ? It's just that in a couple of seconds he'll be back in this room, foaming at the mouth, and I...

08:04 / 08.10.04

The Comedian - J G Hertzler, possibly Marc Alaimo. Maybe even Iggy Pop.

Silk Spectre I - Majel Barrett

Silk Spectre II - Terry Farrell

Nite Owl I - Vaughan Armstrong

Nite Owl II - Colm Meaney

Moloch - Armin Shimmerman

Rorschach - Ken Marshall, maybe Robert O'Reilly at a stretch

Rorschach's Psychiatrist - Avery Brooks

Ozymandias - Chris Sarandon

Disappointed that I can't find roles for Alexander Siddig, Jeff Combs, Nana Visitor, Casey Biggs, Louise Fletcher and Andrew Robinson. They'll have to make cameos.

15:19 / 08.10.04

I think Rorschach needs to be played by an unknown for a couple of reasons. His appearances with his placard prior to getting unmasked would stick out like sore thumbs with a name actor in the role, and I always assumed that the point of his unmasking was to reveal Rorschach as a pathetic nobody under the cool vigilante facade, an anticlimactic moment that wouldn't quite work if the audience reaction was "Oh look it's Steve Buscemi".

I worry that this'll end up like From Hell, with the most interesting bits jettisoned because they don't push the plot forward. The chapter of Jon's trip to Mars has great character stuff but most of it's tangential to the plot and will probably get cut right out.

16:18 / 08.10.04

But From Hell is actually not a bad film if you approach it as something other than an adaptation of the book. Friends who had seen it without knowing the source material loved it; I even liked it a lot the second time around, once I'd gotten past the butchery of the original story. With something like Watchmen, a straight adaptation would require a six-or-seven-hour movie, which just seems...unlikely. My main apprehension remains just how goddamn silly a man with a beer gut in a PVC suit is gonna look on screen. If the heroes actually look all heroic and stuff, the story doesn't work anymore; but if they look too rundown, it becomes an unintentional comedy. I realize this is about the most superficial stumbling block a movie like this could have, but I think it's a big one.

17:17 / 08.10.04

I honestly feel like I won't even worry about this until it seems like the movie will actually, really get made. That means an official final script, director, and cast. Til then, I don't feel it's worth being concerned about. Cause this movie has never even made it out of the gate, in terms of development hell.

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