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by **HellboyOne** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 11:07 pm

Boy...is this ever gonna suck.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main ... 09.30.film

Terry Gilliam's dream project going to a rookie.

R.

by **spikey al** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 12:51 am

Bloody hell! No wonder Alan Moore is shunning the world of comics. This'll stink more than a fat lass at a disco.

by **spikey al** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 1:29 am

Bloody hell! No wonder Alan Moore is shunning the world of comics. This'll stink more than a fat lass at a disco.

by **RandyPanTheGoatBoy** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 2:30 am

I wonder if they are going to use that Sam Hamm script?

Im already getting "LXG" vibes from this. Slump :p

by **AgentHelix** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 2:45 am

Not only is this guy the screenwriter for X-Men, he's also the voice of Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Stupid 2 : Sons of Idiocy.

-Brad

by **JhnyX** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 5:55 am

I have to admit that most comic-to-movie adaptations fall well short of their
potential. I haven't read anything about this except for the link Hellboy provided,
and there's not much there. If I allow myself to read into it, the fact that the
director says "hey, it's all there in the comic" is at least a good sign, isn't it?
That's usually my critizism of these things, I'm usually like, "hell, it was all
already worked out in the comic, why did they change this or that". Although
it will probably dissappoint, I don't know why you'd just assume that. What makes
you say that it HAS to suck?

by **CameronStewart** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 9:46 am

Terry Gilliam abandoned his idea of adapting Watchmen early on because he decided that in order to condense it into a two-hour film you'd have to remove everything that makes the comic so interesting and complex.

Those quotes from Hayter at the link above don't really fill you with confidence in him, do they? "I'm, like, I don't think I want to see you naked." Sheesh.

Now, here's something that's interesting, however:

There's a guy here in Toronto by the name of Mark Askwith, who is currently one of the high-ups at the Space Channel (Canada's version of the Sci-Fi Network). He used to produce a television series about comics called Prisoners Of Gravity, he knows practically everyone in the comics industry, he's written comics for DC (including the comic book "sequel" to The Prisoner television series), and he's one of the biggest Alan Moore fans around. He knows Watchmen back to front and top to bottom like no one else I've known. I was talking to him a few months ago and he said that he'd read the David Hayter script, and he was amazed to find that "he's done it." Mark said that if anyone has reason to criticize a Watchmen script, he does, but he was really impressed with the adaptation.

I remain skeptical, unfortunately (I really do think that Watchmen can really only work as a comic), but it's interesting to hear someone say that the script is good...

by **HellboyOne** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 1:56 pm

What makes
you say that it HAS to suck?

Well....the odds are so very much against him (never directed before...a writer directing his own material = perhaps not wanting to budge on weaker points because he wrote it...the overconfidence, which might bite him in the ass at the end of the day). And when this gets made, I'll be in that geek line with the rest of you, waiting to be impressed. Cameron's bit here gives me a little bit of hope, but a great script doesn't mean it'll be a great movie. One thing about a rookie director is he'll give a lot of control to the cinematographer and the rest of the crew so it's all about surrounding himself with the best movie makers in town. At least with that he'll be half way there.

by **Benjamin** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 9:56 pm

Is any comic book literature once adapted comparable to it's comic? Never. Even Spiderman is something very different. Sometimes it's a hit, most times its a miss.

Has anything adapted of Mr. Moores art been a successful translation?

Swamp thing (debateable how much was his, but obviously wouldn't have been made without moores interepretation and his runs popularity), League of Extraordinary Gentlemen or better yet LXG. From Hell...am I missing anything? Not a very good track record. To be fair From Hell was very moderate, not terrible.

and Hellboyone is right, supposedly everyone who read the "Soldier" script said it was going to a fantastic film, a milestone, and it was lame.

I liked Gillams' mini-series idea (not really about cosmetics, but more about neccessity). As impossible as it was...in budget and plausibility, showed that he understood the material enough to recognize that reformating it into a conventional movie wouldn't serve the source any justice.

Benjamin

(Good old Prisoners of Gravity, the Ty Templeton opening was perfection)

by **CameronStewart** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 3:49 am

From Hell was very terrible, not moderate.

I still think the Alan Moore book that stands the best chance of being successfully adapted into a film is V For Vendetta. But it would still require a reeeeally good director.

I'm content for there NEVER to be a Watchmen movie - it's not really necessary, is it? The comic is brilliant, that's all we need. Why does everything need to be turned into a film in order for it to be validated?

by **RandyPanTheGoatBoy** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 4:38 am

The mini-series idea route be the best way to tackle Watchmen, the scope of the book is simply to great to get into a movie, even a long one.

Even then, if a mini-series was made, wouldnt the film makers be working under the control of the networks/advertisers?

"No hacked up dogs please, the advertisers wouldnt approve" :p

Im sure David "Guyver" Hayter is putting everything he can into making this work, but Im still dubious, even though my fanboy side can't wait to see Rorshach on the big screen with that mask.

The book is such a total display of graphic storytelling anyway, that ANY film adaption is just going to feel second best.

by **HellboyOne** » Sun Oct 12, 2003 9:21 am

I'm content for there NEVER to be a Watchmen movie - it's not really necessary, is it? The comic is brilliant, that's all we need. Why does everything need to be turned into a film in order for it to be validated?

I agree.

But, the studios don't want it. Directors (and in this case, a writer cum future director) wants it. I don't even think the fans necessarily want it because anyone who's read Watchmen knows there's just a certain impossibility in this amazing story succeeding as a film.

Although....the nerd in me is curious to see a live-action Rorschach.

R.

by **KINGMIX** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 9:13 pm

Now what they should do is let Gilliam direct it and keep everything he wants, but break it into two just like Kill Bill. I've got mixed feelings about the film and I agree that I don't care if it ever gets to screen and would almost prefer that they not even risk tarnishing the name of this great work. I wish they'd do a Dark Knight Returns movie faithful to the comic, I think I'd die and go heaven.

KingMixer

by **HellboyOne** » Tue Nov 04, 2003 11:10 pm

You'll hear Gilliam say Watchmen is still his dream project, however impossible. I'm sure he's smarting a bit from the news that someone else is making it.

R.

by **drugmassacre** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 8:52 pm

Now being hooked on 24 and being amazed at how well it's done and how great it looks, i'm convinced watchmen would make a great 12-part continuous miniseries

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