With Warner Bros.’ big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ Hugo Award-wining graphic novel Watchmen one year to the day away from opening, director Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead) has posted pics of some of the stars decked out in their superhero attire. Scroll down to see the pics.
Originally published by DC Comics in 1986, Watchmen is set in a time when superheroes have been outlawed and revolves around a group of caped crusaders who struggle with their own personal demons while trying to avert a nuclear war between the United States and Russia. Those expecting a Fantastic Four type of film will be surprised to learn that the story is more of a deconstruction of the superhero mythos, exploring the vulnerability and moral ambiguities that plague its masked crime fighters. If the project has a strike against it, it’s that some of the themes explored in the comic won’t feel as fresh now that it has been pilfered by a number of other movies and television shows, including Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles and, most blatantly, the NBC series Heroes.
Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley, who appeared together in the film Little Children (Haley was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) are playing Nightowl and Rorschach, respectively. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Supernatural) plays The Comedian, and Malin Akerman (27 Dresses) slips into spandex as Silk Spectre. The only bit of miscasting appears to be Matthew Goode, who looks a bit too young to be playing retired, middle-aged superhero Ozymandias.
Also in the cast but not featured in the photos are Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter, the original Silk Spectre, and Billy Crudup as the voice of the invincible Dr. Manhattan, a character that will be created with CG animation. Produced by Larry Gordon, Lloyd Levin and Deborah Snyder, with Jessica Goodman overseeing for co-financer Legendary Pictures, the vfx-laden film is entering a long post-production period and is slated to arrive in theaters on March 6, 2009. Visit the official website at http://rss.warnerbros.com/watchmen.
