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The Watchmen is one of the hottest topics in the movie world right now and since I anticipate a flurry of Watchmen related news and promos I thought it should have its own thread. If you're not familiar with the Watchmen check out the article below and the video narrated by the Director of the film, Zack Snyder - he does a wonderful job of explaining the storyline and the significance of this graphic novel.


New Featurette of 'Watchmen' With Director's Insight
December 31, 2008 06:22:48 GMT

Zac Snyder shares what he thinks of the comic book and how it will contribute in the story plus he explains the characters of 'Watchmen'.

While the distribution right is still hanging on a balance, "Watchmen" unveils a new featurette that has director Zack Snyder on commentary. Snyder, who also directed the epic drama "300", gives his insight on why "Watchmen" the comic is one of the things he wants to lift as a live-action movie.

Snyder also shares deeper his knowledge of each character including Nite Owl, Rorschach, Silk Spectre and The Comedian. The footage not only presents the close up look to each of the heroes and their dilemmas, but also some never-before-seen scenes.

"Watchmen" is scheduled to hit the U.S. theaters on March 6 but the legal battle between Warner Bros and Fox throws a possibility that there will be a delay. In a recent court outcome, Fox have won the distribution right over Warner but Warner issued a statement afterwards, saying that they will fight for an appeal so that the movie will see the light of day on time.

Adapted from a 1980s comic book of the same name, "Watchmen" tells the story of a band of superheroes in the alternate 1985 America where superheroes are commonly part of the society. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.



Source: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00020893.html

Here's my post from this week's Expose that tries to explain the battle between Warner Bros and Fox over the release of the Watchmen movie.


Sunday, December 28, 2009
Good Morning Gossips - The denizens of Hollyweird and the Entertainment World must still be in hibernation mode as there is very little news to share with you today. The one story that I am watching pretty closely is the WB/Fox lawsuit over The Watchmen movie. I wouldn't say that I'm a comic book geek but I do appreciate the history of graphic novels and this one is a blockbuster that has been under development since 1986!

WILL THE WATCHMEN EVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY? COMIC FANS READY FOR A BATTLE!




WATCH THE WATCHMEN TRAILER HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slj55jYuMro&NR=1
You have to watch it in high def - embedding it doesn't do it justice!

You know how Santa Claus gives lumps of coal on Christmas Eve to those who’ve been very, very naughty? Well, so do judges. In a twist befitting the comic book in question, the judge presiding over the legal battle for distribution rights to Watchmen found in favor of Fox. The bottom line: Warner Bros. had absolutely no right to roll film on Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons superhero classic. As fans wait to see if the ruling will prevent the film from being released as scheduled on March 3, Fox and Warner Bros. are waiting to see if the court will determine how much Fox should get for being so wronged -- unless the studios decide to settle the matter themselves.

The ruling comes as a surprise to Hollywood observers, mostly because no one expected the judge would issue this ruling at all. The conventional wisdom was that Warner Bros. and Fox would settle privately, and the rightness and wrongness of the situation would never be officially called. Moreover, on Dec. 16, the judge set a Jan. 20 trial date for the dispute, saying he had no intention of fulfilling the request of both parties to issue a summary judgment. Why? Because, he said, the darn thing was just too complicated!

But on Christmas Eve, Judge Gary Allen Feess reversed course and issued a ruling that was clear and decisive. Why did he change his mind? Because Fox and Warner Bros. asked him to. In the wake of Feess’ Dec. 16 edict, both studios pressed him to reconsider and issue a summary judgment, saying that settling this thing between them was all but impossible because they needed his guidance on interpreting an old contract between Fox and Watchmen producer Larry Gordon. That paper appears to indicate the following: Fox has always had the right to distribute a Watchmen movie; anytime Gordon put together a new version of a Watchmen movie (which is to say, develop a new script or snag a new director for the film), he had to offer Fox the chance to produce and distribute it; if Fox passed on the project, Gordon had the right to purchase Fox’s interest in Watchmen and take the project elsewhere.

In his ruling, Feess concludes that Gordon never properly presented Fox with the option to produce and distribute the version of Watchmen developed by director Zack Snyder. He also makes it clear that neither Gordon nor Warner Bros. had bought out Fox’s interest before Warner Bros. went into production. Indeed, Feess’ ruling includes a rather sarcastic footnote blasting Gordon for his conduct in resolving this dispute. In section 3, Feess remarks that during Gordon’s deposition, the producer claimed he couldn’t properly recollect his contract with Fox. Feess seems so dismissive of Gordon’s allegedly faulty memory, he makes the following side ruling: Should Gordon suddenly remember some salient bit of information that could now help Warner Bros.’ cause, he should go back to conveniently forgetting about it. “[T]he court will not, during the remainder of this case, receive any evidence from Gordon that attempts to contradict any aspect of this Court’s ruling on the copyright issues under discussion.”

Feess' plainspoken declaration that Fox has always been in the right on this matter should represent vindication for the studio. Since Fox filed its lawsuit earlier this year, Watchmen fans and entertainment bloggers (including myself) have questioned why Fox waited until Snyder wrapped production before laying claim to the movie. Our questioning, of course, rested on two assumptions: 1. There was no way Gordon and Warner Bros. could have been so dim as to shoot a movie they had no right to make; and 2. If Fox was so possessive of Watchmen, how come it didn't try harder to stop Warner Bros. from wasting millions and millions of dollars on a movie it had no right to make? But as EW subsequently reported, Fox’s lawyers did contact Warner Bros. prior to Watchmen's production with the goal of resolving the matter and allowing Warner Bros. to roll film with a clear conscience -- albeit one purchased, no doubt, at great expense.

Nonetheless, fanboy vitriol toward Fox for daring to meddle with a movie they have long wanted to see continues to this very day. Just check out aint-it-cool-news' report on Fox's victory; the site's message boards are currently chockablock with choice, colorful words aimed at Fox and its top exec, Tom Rothman, who has become an unpopular figure because of Fox’s spotty track record with genre material under his leadership. Yes, many of them have been huge hits (X-Men; X-Men 3; I, Robot; Fantastic Four), but many of them haven’t (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Daredevil, Elektra, The Day The Earth Stood Still), and with few exceptions (most notably, X-Men 2), none of them have made the hardcore sci-fi/comic book fans very happy due to the studio’s penchant for short running times, stingy budgets, and adaptation choices designed to make the material more mainstream-friendly. For them, Fox’s desire to lay claim to Watchmen gives them an excuse to vent. Some fans have even been calling for a boycott of Fox’s Wolverine next summer if the lawsuit should effectively delay Watchmen’s release indefinitely.

But does any of this really have anything to do with Watchmen? Absolutely not. With Feess’ decision, Fox’s lawsuit -- and its victory -- should be seen as an important move that really benefits all of Hollywood, as it affirms copyright laws that protect all studios. Fox deserves a break on Watchmen; according to Feess, their beef with Warner Bros. has always been legit.

How much will being right ultimately be worth to Fox? Perhaps a lot; perhaps nothing at all. Warner Bros. has been asking Feess to make one more crucial ruling in this case. The judge articulates the studio's request like this: “[T]o summarily adjudicate the issue of a contractual cap on the amount of compensatory damages to which Fox is entitled.” Now, I am no lawyer, but here’s how I might rephrase Warner Bros.’ position: “Let’s pretend for a moment that Fox is right in this matter. Judge, could you help us decide a fair price for Fox’s rights? Because we can't.” Perhaps all along, Warner Bros. has been gambling/banking that the judge will "adjudicate" a relatively affordable price for Fox's rights, or at least put a price tag on it that's much lower than the one Fox has been putting on it. As Feess has said that a longer version of his Christmas Eve ruling is forthcoming, perhaps the question of value will be determined at that time.

In the meantime, there are anxieties, questions, and theories: Will Warner Bros. appeal? If it does, Watchmen’s release could be held up by months. If Warner Bros. doesn’t appeal, what will Fox get in return? A cash payout per Gordon’s original contract? A cash payout plus penalties? A share of Watchmen’s total revenues? Might Warner Bros. settle the lawsuit by selling or ceding the film to Fox? If Fox got control of Watchmen, would they release Snyder’s film in its current 2 hour 30 minute form, or would they order him to (gulp) trim it or (double gulp) make changes?

Source: EW.com

GG Flo note: GG Flo note: Things are heating up in comic fandom and this court case could change the future of a few films soon to be released. I'm not sure even the fantastic Jeffrey Dean Morgan (a.k.a. Comedian) can fix this one...

I don'w know much about this movie, other than I think I read that Patrick Wilson is in it . . (I love him). Thanks for the overview, I'm going to have to check this one out.

Yes, Patrick Wilson plays Nite Owl and is one of the stars... here's the cast list:

Watchmen, starring Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Goode and more.

Comic books to big screen are all the rage. I'm not sure what to think about this movie yet. What I can say is that with all this drama around it when (if) it does come to theaters people are going to come running because of the drama.

They played the preview for this before Valkyrie. I have to admit; I know nothing about The Watchman but the previews looked quite exciting. Not sure I'd see it in the theater but I would rent the DVD based on the preview.

The 'Watchmen' Studio Drama Is Over
PopEater

Fear not, superhero brethren: 'The Watchmen' will be coming to a theater near you very soon. Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox settled their nearly yearlong dispute over the movie on Thursday, meaning the film will be released on its intended date, March 6. The exact terms of the agreement were not disclosed and will remain confidential.

The release date had been in doubt for months as each studio's attorneys grappled for an upper hand. Fox contended that Warner Bros. shot the film knowing that it didn't have all the adequate rights; Warner Bros. countered that Fox had lost its rights in the graphic novel and was owed nothing more than a right of first refusal.
At stake was a movie that has stoked the excitement of "Watchmen" fans and that Warner Bros. claims cost it $150 million to film and market.

Until recently, the studios appeared to be in a stalemate as protracted as the Cold War backdrop of the film's source material. But a Christmas Eve ruling by U.S. District Judge Gary Allen Feess found that Fox did have at least a distribution stake in the film.
Within days of that ruling, Warner Bros. and Fox were in serious settlement negotiations.
Attorneys were scheduled to update Feess on the settlement Friday morning.

While the studios agreed on little throughout the case, the statement released Thursday sought to end months of acrimony.

I'm really excited about this movie and I'm glad that they finally came to terms! Cheers - Flo

Awesome news!

i,m so ready for this movie
saw the trailer and it looked so good
it,s going too be the big break finally for jeffrey dean morgan
my sexy man

Yes...and OMG he looks amazing in this movie. There a scene where he's just standing there with his big gun and things are blowing up behind him and he looks all sweaty and built like a truck! OMG! That voice too!

Wait til you see him on the cover of EW magazine! The man is as you would say "jacked" and his costume of black leather and latex is hotter than HOT! Enjoy!

Hummina Hummina! Thanks for the picture Flo.

WOW, that is what I would call A MAN, and what a great piece of a man!!!
Thanks Flo!
xoxo

Flo!! Find me one of Patrick Wilson's character! Hot picture, and I agree, gotta love the leather and latex!

- Jess

Ask and ye shall receive... 2 pics and an interview with the Nite Owl himself. Enjoy!






SET VISIT INTERVIEW: PATRICK WILSON (WATCHMEN)
By Devin Faraci Published 02/17/2009 Interviews - CHUD
How do you not love Patrick Wilson? There's a certain lovability to the guy that makes him ideal casting as Dan Dreiberg, aka Nite Owl II, the gone-to-seed retired caped crusader who finds himself in the middle of a heady mystery in Watchmen. The character is almost a perfect continuation from his regretful grown up jock in Little Children. And it's the fact that Wilson has the chops to star in a movie of that caliber (alongside his Watchmen co-star Jackie Earle Haley) that made his casting so exciting.

Let me take you way back to October of 2007; I was visiting the chilly Vancouver set of Watchmen. Along with an eclectic group of journalists I sat inside a cavernous room that had been turned into Dr. Manhattan's lab; somewhere in the distance saws buzzed and hammers pounded as another set was being built. The noise made talking with Wilson difficult, but he never lost his cool.

Q: When we find Dan Dreiberg, he's not in the best shape; are you doing De Niro-style method acting?

Wilson: I probably gained about 20 pounds since the summer. The first thing I said to Zack when we got together I asked him how much weight he wanted me to put on. What's interesting is in the first couple of chapters at least in his plain clothes, or even in the Owl suit, he's pretty big. But by the time he takes his shirt off and the stuff where he's naked, he's not a fat guy. There's this perception of 'Oh, he's huge!' and he's overweight. One of the first things Zack said is that's obviously a metaphor for what's going on in his life, and being more schlumpy and lost and all of those adjectives. Much more than gaining all the weight. Plus when you're doing a movie like this, when you're doing the early stuff, which there isn't a lot, you want to be able to fit in the suit. Basically what I'm saying is I didn't want to go overboard. But I wanted to have it. Nobody told me to, but I wanted to anyway. I'm a pretty lean guy to begin with and I wanted to get a little fuller and have a little gut.

Q: Did you have to stay at a certain weight to fit in that suit?

Wilson: I talked to the guys who designed it, because by the time I did my first fitting - in mid-July, I guess - I was doing another movie where I was 185, which is about what my weight is normally. So when we're making the suit, I told them I was going to be 15 to 20 pounds more when we started going. It wasn't anything that drastic. The weird thing has been trying to find this balance between all the physical stuff that we do and the look of the character. What's right, what fits, what he is in comparison to other characters. I think we're doing a good job.

Q: Can you talk about working with Jackie Earle Haley again? In Little Children you didn't have so many scenes together, but this time you're playing the old partners.

Wilson: Well, we get along great. The first stuff we shot together was us breaking into Adrian's office. It was the first time I was in the suit, so nobody had even really seen me in the suit. We sat there before the first take and he's putting his mask on and we're like, "What are we doing?" It's Brad Adamson and Ronald James McGorvey gone terribly wrong! We're the sequel to Little Children. But it was great; especially when you're playing guys who have known each other for a really long time, it helped. He's so great and such a warm person anyway. What I found on this movie, not just between me and Jackie, but - and I dont know if you found this just walking around here - everybody has this same focus. Everybody is in love with this material: the script, the graphic novel. When that's you're common link, nothing else matters.

Q: The book is sort of elliptical about the history - the broad strokes are there, but the reader fills in many details. Did you and Jackie work out your history on your own?

Wilson: Zack did one on ones or two on ones to go through all of our relationships and how people started. What we see, what we may have missed. So, we definitely went through that. You have to establish how long they were together. And did they really fight together? That's the stuff you want to get to. And when they did, how much of it was at the same time? So going through that was fun, especially with me and Jackie because it's such a history with those two. It's a great relationship for these two complete opposite types of people to work together. To have an understanding of each other. So by the end it's tragic, I think.

Q: Dan is sort of the hero of the piece, but he's also among the most normal. He's the least flashy among all these eccentric figures. How do you put yourself in and stand out among these characters?

Wilson: I read it from his perspective all along, so it's hard for me to even look at everybody else's arc. To me, he's such a complex guy; he is very real. I think the Batman similarities are on purpose. Really Dr. Manhattan is the only one with any sort of super power. I found he has so much heart. When you see Dan with his glasses, he's a great guy. So all of the problems, all of the things that are interesting as an actor: the sexual issues, the not knowing who you are, almost having that Vietnam vet syndrome - when he doesn't have the suit he asks, who am I? Now that I'm not fighting that battle? Who am I? There's so much, and we've really just begun. That's the stuff I'm looking forward to;h e goes through such a wide range of being introverted and lost, trying to adjust to society. He doesn't relate to being alive, to feeling empowered. It's a great journey. I don't feel lost between the flashiness. I think he's pretty cool.

Q: Were you a fan of the comic?

Wilson: I didn't know it. I knew of it, but I hadn't read it before. Like with all comic book scripts that I've seen or been up for, whatever the nonsense is, I called one of my best friends, Chris, who is a die-hard fan and has been ever since I've known him. I call him and say, 'What do you have on Daredevil? Fantastic Four?' He'd give me his rundown. I said, 'Alright I just got the Watchmen script.' He paused and he goes, 'Oh god.' I said, 'What? I'm only halfway through, but this seems pretty cool.' He said, 'If you are ever to do a comic book movie, this is the one to do.' So then I knew I had the stamp of approval, at least from the fan. I knew I was getting into some pretty revered work. I read the script first, but once I read the graphic novel and became immersed in it - I mean, there's stuff we were just talking about a few minutes ago... some of the stunt guys just got through it and they said, 'It's pretty dense!' I don't want to bag on any other comics, but there's a reason that it is to some people the Holy Grail of graphic novels. You just keep finding new things in that script. The thing about Zack is that he has such an appreciation for that. It's not going to be an 8 hour movie so in trimming, finding the focus of the film, what do you leave out of the graphic novel - and I think they've done an incredible job of adapting it - within that I'll sort of see something and say, 'Man, I love this line that's in the graphic novel' and you go to him and he says, 'Great, yeah, I love that line too.' It's an evolving process.

Q: Is your friend psyched?

Wilson: I talked to him today. He's trying to get out of work so he can come here to play. 'What are you shooting?' 'We're breaking Rorschach out of prison.' 'Ohhhh my God!' I've never seen this kind of excitement! But we get that. Everybody here - you don't run from it, you embrace it. You don't tread around it. You dive right in. Everybody loves it.

Q: Are you looking forward to piloting the Owl Ship?

Wilson: Oh yeah, have you seen the ship? It's pretty great. That's the thing: every new set you walk onto, you're just blown away.

Q: How is the action going with the suit? You're doing some fights in that suit - is it supple, or is it hard to move around?

Wilson: Nice use of supple, by the way. I haven't heard that today. I like that.

It's high class problems, I like to say. What am I going to do, complain about the suit? It's unbelievable. Mobility-wise, it's okay. Tension is hard; it's like a scuba suit gone haywire. You have the elasticity but... it's just like anything. You just get used to it. I'm not going to complain about the suit. It's unbelievable. It's so cool.
Source: http://chud.com/articles/articles/18178/1/SET-VISIT-INTERVIEW-PATRICK-WILSON-WATCHMEN/Page1.html