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On Zack's Watch
In November of 2008, filmmaker ZACK SNYDER offered select media a sneak preview of...
In November of 2008, filmmaker ZACK SNYDER offered select media a sneak preview of his highly anticipated epic WATCHMEN, an adaptation of Alan Moore's revered graphic novel about an alternate world where superheroes have been banned, President Richard M. Nixon is serving his fourth term as US President, and the world teeters on the brink of nuclear destruction. He also took the time to answer a few questions. FILMINK's BRIAN DUFF was there.
The first question is about casting because I know that in the past we've heard names like Keanu Reeves who was interested in being in it and John Cusack and, who else, Tom Cruise was keen to play Ozymandias...
"Was he keen? I don't know. The studio would have liked to have had big stars because people like movies with stars in them. Frankly, stars are expensive. For me, it was like, ‘Should I sacrifice $20 million on a movie star or should I put it in the movie?' That's how it worked out."
With the proliferation of the superhero genre now, where you can see a superhero movie every year, do you feel that this will make Watchmen a little difficult to market?
"Heroes is like the TV version of Watchmen, or of other comics for that matter. [But] it can never go all the way; it's always just going to be like, a soap opera version of it, with visual effects. I think that the more superheroes people get the better; the easier Watchmen is to understand."
Does it bother you that [Watchmen creator] Alan Moore apparently has disowned the movie?
"Alan had asked to not be involved in the film before I was involved in it. He said, ‘Look, I don't want my name on the movie, I don't want to be involved in it' and I think that a lot of problems have come up with Alan when people make assumptions about what he thinks about either a movie or having a movie made or any of that stuff, so I try not to make any assumptions about Alan. He's just created an incredible work. We've had a great collaboration with Dave Gibbons, the illustrator, and there's actually a really cool book out right now called Making Watchmen, which is Dave's chronicle of how they created Watchmen. It's an amazing thing."
Watchmen is a very dense book. How did you choose what you were going to include and what you weren't? You can't please everyone...
"I knew that going into it. It's not an open cheque book and an open medium - it's a movie, you know? They don't just say, ‘Oh look, do a five hour movie and here's a 500 million dollar budget'. That would be cool, don't get me wrong! I would love that, but I have to make deals. There are trade-offs that I make as well. Some stuff that doesn't drive the story has to get taken out, but I really endeavoured to keep the movie weird! [Laughs]"
How are you going to reach out to the non-comic book fans?
"When you look at the artwork for the general marketing, if you look carefully, you can see the crazy movie in there, but if you're just passing by, you're like, ‘Oh cool, superhero movie'. That's kinda what Watchmen did when it came out as a graphic novel. A lot of kids picked it up as a comic book, and were like, ‘Oh, it's cool, it's the new Alan Moore comic, it's just going to be a cool adventure' and it's like, ‘Oh, my mind just got blown'. So there's that part of it too. Hopefully the movie does the same thing."
What is the main impression you want your audience to leave the film with?
"I hope that it takes you to another sort of experience. That's my favourite thing with movies: that you get to go to another point of view, or another world, and spend a while with that. I'm not trying to make some preachy movie about how you should think, but it would be cool if people could sit down and talk about it afterwards."
Watchmen is released on March 5. For much more on Watchmen, pick up the latest issue of FILMINK Magazine now.
