A movie project of “The Watchmen” has been dangled out in front of comic movie fans like some sorta of twisted carrot in front of a jackass for years. On again! Off again! It’s a go! No it’s not! I swear it feels like another Indian Jones sometimes (but not as bad). And like Indiana Jones I have a hard time believing this in will actually make it to the big screen, but there is at least hope… and that hope took another (small) step forward today.
Director Zack Snyder (who is busy working on one of my most anticipated films of next year “300” took some time out to talk about progress on The Watchmen. The good folks over at Empire give us this:
“We’re getting ready to turn a script that we like into this studio,” says Snyder. “They’re pretty excited about it…I think the script that Alex (Tse) has done for us is the closest to the graphic novel it’s been [since development started], for better or for worse. I feel like Alex has done an awesome job. It’s keeping all the things that are cool about the comic”. And despite widespread assumptions, Snyder isn’t planning to update it from its Cold War setting to the present day, despite both eras sharing a political unrest.
Now don’t get too excited just yet. This isn’t a green light. This is just them saying they’re almost ready to turn a script into the studio. Nothing to celebrate yet. But still… it is progress… and more than we’ve seen from this in a long time.
But as I said, with “300” not coming out till into 2007, don’t expect any BIG Watchmen news until at least after that… if we get any at all. I still think there are too many studio execs who won’t think that the story and feel of The Watchmen will attract enough of an audience… and I know this will make me unpopular for saying it… but THEY MIGHT BE RIGHT.
