The Watchmen is a preVertigo Comics title. Vertigo is the alternative, and more adult oriented line of comics published by DC Comics in which this type of book would have belonged. It is one of the few titles that gained cult status among those publications, and its been teased that we might see a movie based on the Watchmen for a LONG time now. Looks like its a go, and it looks like they had their eye on Tom Cruise to play a significant role. Filmstalker says:
Tom Cruise was to star in the Watchmen film according to the latest director on the project Zack Snyder. Cruise and Snyder were talking about him playing the role of Ozymandias, the perfect human being who excels at everything with his perfect physique, amazing mind, and the most famous man in the world.
Sounds like a perfect match, and to be honest I wasn’t surprised to hear that he was being considered for the role, after all he could carry it off. If you know the comic book and all that this character is, then you’re not far off the persona of Cruise already.
However the news for all Watchmen fans out there is that Cruise isn’t going to be in the role. According to the comments from Snyder over at CHUD, he was interested, but now he’s not.
What is interesting is that Snyder is thinking so big for the Watchmen film, also that he’s pushing for an R rating, and is seems that the studio will let him
I really like the idea that they are keeping this movie to its more mature roots. Making it a rated R is going to keep true to the original story so it doesnt get watered down into some WBKids animated series.
I also rather like the idea of Tom Cruise as Ozymandias. He has the presence of fame, a great physical form, and he can act. He might still be a little crazy to count on him for bank, but he would fit the role of Ozymandias appropriately. I would really like to see Cruise play the role of “the famous one” after his recent fall from such a title. I am actually disappointed he isn’t involved.
