Watchmen Blu-Ray Maximum Movie Mode

The Director's Cut version of Watchmen comes out on Blu-Ray on July 21st. It will add 25 extra minutes on to the theatrical version.

“There’s a couple Rorschach scenes; it’s a little bit more violent overall,” Snyder said of the “Maximum Movie Mode” Blu-Ray disc, which even has a mode where the director walks onto the screen and explains certain scenes’ significance. “It’s a little gorier, a teeny bit gorier; like, when Veidt’s being assassinated, the secretary puts her hand out and she gets shot in the hand - and her fingers fly off.”

As for the other goodies inserted into Snyder’s 25-minute-longer Director’s Cut, “After Hollis dies, we cut to Dan and Rorschach and they go to Happy Harry’s to get some info on who’s trying to assassinate Veidt…at the end of that scene, in the theatrical version, it cuts [after they get some information]. In the longer version, Dan notices on the TV that there’s a report that Hollis has been murdered. He sees that, and then he sees a Knot Top in the bar, and he attacks him and beats the sh-t out of him, just like in the graphic novel. Then Rorschach pulls him off and says ‘not in front of the civilians!’”

“[Dan Dreiberg] is getting emotional, he’s knocking the guy’s teeth out of his mouth; it’s pretty gory,” Snyder promised of the scene that had to be cut from the theatrical release for length. “It’s the kind of thing where you get to see Dan lose it — which helps set up the end of the movie a little bit.”

“Everybody gets a little bit extra character from all that stuff,” Snyder said of the new cut.

What I'm really excited about is this Maximum Movie Mode commentary by director Zack Snyder. Yowza this is going to be cool! Zack did similar commentary throughout 300, but this looks even more awesome! Leave it to Zack to truly embrace the new technology. Pick it up on pre-order from Amazon for only $23, and there are a couple more videos there as well.

It's Dr. Manhattan!

From CNN:

New photographs released by NASA have captured images of a vast stellar formation resembling a human hand reaching across space.
The image, taken by NASA's space-based Chandra Observatory telescope, shows an X-ray nebula 150 light years across.

It shows what appear to be ghostly blue fingers -- thumb and pinky clearly discernible from index, ring and middle digits -- reaching into a sparkling cloud of fiery red.

NASA says the display is caused by a young and powerful pulsar, known by the rather prosaic name of PSR B1509-58.

"The pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star which is spewing energy out into the space around it to create complex and intriguing structures, including one that resembles a large cosmic hand," NASA says.

The space agency says B1509 -- created by a collapsed star -- is one of the most powerful electromaginetic generators in the Galaxy. The nebula is formed by a torrent of electrons and ions emitted by the 1,700-year-old phenomenon.

The finger-like structures are apparently caused by "energizing knots of material in a neighboring gas cloud," NASA says.

Wall-E Watchmen Trailer Mashup

Brilliant!

Hat tip: Awards Daily

Watchmen Discussion Topics

Based on all hits I've been getting leading to this post defending Dr. Manhattan's Blue Penis, I'd say that's pretty accurate!

Curse of the Black Freighter clip!

EW has posted two new clips from the Curse of the Black Freighter Watchmen companion DVD due out later this month:

Warner Bros. has a treat: a companion DVD to the film coming out on March 24, titled Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter.

Also on the DVD is a second companion film called Under the Hood. Running a little longer at 38 minutes, this mini-flick is staged like an old episode of a 60 Minutes-style show called The Culpeper Minute, which takes a nostalgic look back to the early days of the Minutemen -- the masked heroes/vigilantes who preceded the Watchmen.

In Defense of the Blue Penis

Andrew Sullivan pointed me to this interesting take on Dr. Manhattan's full frontal nudity in Watchmen from Phoebe Connelly of The American Prospect:

I'd like to stand up in defense of superhero Dr. Manhattan's full-frontal blue nudity. The majority of reviews have seen fit to mention it: Anthony Lane, "buff, buck naked, and blue, like a porn star," Roger Ebert, "complete with discreet genitalia," Kenneth Turan, "pale blue and naked (don't ask)," NPR, "As he lacks a spandex suit — or for the most part a suit of any sort — full-frontal shots of him also qualify as blue, come to think of it."

But getting worked up over the blue penis is a failure to notice the rest of the film. A female superhero, Silk Spectre II, is outfitted in a latex body suit with perma-hard nipples, there's a horribly cheesy sex scene set to "Hallelujah," and your overshare problem is the glowing blue penis?

We're comfortable with objectified male bodies when they are a joke, but not when it's merely a part of a character -- the way female nudity, particularly in action films, so often is.

So yes to the blue penis. Let's hope it makes people pause to consider why it's discomfiting to have male nudity displayed, not for laughs, and not part of some art house epic, but just as a side-bit character trait that no one seems to remark on.

Two and a Half Watchmen

Curse of the Black Freighter Trailer

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

In the graphic novel Watchmen, there is a story-within-a-story called The Curse of the Black Freighter about a pirate. Zack Snyder wanted to film it for the movie, but it would make the movie too long, so he made an agreement that he could make a DVD to be released at about the same time Watchmen hits theaters. The animated Black Freighter, voiced by Gerard Butler (he found a way to keep his 300 star involved!) will be released on BluRay and DVD on March 24th.

Hat tip: GB.net

Watchmen Viral Videos

This viral video gives us some backstory on Watchmen. Who Watches the Watchmen?

I did have to chuckle at the "No Capes" part -- Edna Mode, anyone?

This video is a newscast about Dr. Manhattan. "Better blue than red!"

One more month!

Deal for Watchmen!!

Variety Reports the great news:

Warner Bros. and Fox have settled their very public battle over "Watchmen." A deal has been hammered out that that gives WB some face-saving points, but which gives Fox the equivalent of a movie star�s gross participation.

Warner Bros. gets the right to open its superhero pic on March 6 as planned, and Fox's logo will not be on the film, sources said.

Fox, on the other hand, will emerge with an upfront cash payment that sources pegged between $5 million and $10 million, covering reimbursement of $1.4 million the studio invested in development fees, and also millions of dollars in legal fees incurred during the case.

More importantly, Fox will get a gross participation in "Watchmen" that scales between 5% and 8.5%, depending on the film�s worldwide revenues. Fox also participates as a gross player in any sequels and spinoffs, sources said.

Hurray!!! It will still come out on March 6. Only a few more weeks to wait.

Watchmen Producer Speaks Out in Open Letter

Update -- There may be a settlement announced soon according to the Carbetbagger:

Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox are pointed toward a settlement of their bitter dispute over the upcoming “Watchmen” movie. Lawyers for both sides on Friday morning asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to postpone a Friday hearing on the status of their case until Monday, while they pursue settlement talks.

A lawyer for Fox said that over the last few days, there had been “continued exchanges on the subject of resolution that have been productive.” Judge Gary A. Feess set a new date for a hearing for 3:30 pm. Monday.

The legal battles continue, with Warner Brothers trying to push up the trial date. The marketing for the Watchmen film has not stopped and fans are praying the film's March release date is not delayed. HitFix blog had a discussion with the producers of Watchmen and were sent this very provocative open letter from the Lloyd Levin:

Who is right? In the Watchmen dispute between Warner Brothers and Fox that question is being discussed, analyzed, argued, tried and ruled on in a court of law. That's one way to answer the question - It is a fallback position in our society for parties in conflict to resolve disputes. And there are teams of lawyers and a highly regarded Federal Judge trying to do just that, which obviates any contribution I could make towards answering the "who is right" question within a legal context. But after 15 plus years of involvement in the project, and a decade more than that working in the movie business, I have another perspective, a personal perspective that I believe important to have on the public record.

No one is more keenly aware of the irony of this dispute than Larry Gordon and I who have been trying to get this movie made for many years. There's a list of people who have rejected the viability of a movie based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's classic graphic novel that reads like a who's who of Hollywood.

We've been told the graphic novel is unfilmable.

After 9/11 some felt the story's themes were too close to reality ever to be palatable to a mainstream audience.

There were those who considered the project but who wished it were somehow different: Could it be a buddy movie, or a team-up movie or could it focus on one main character; did it have to be so dark; did so many people have to die; could it be stripped of its flashback structure; could storylines be eliminated; could new storylines be invented; did it have to be so long; could the blue guy put clothes on... The list of dissatisfactions for what Watchmen is was as endless as the list of suggestions to make it something it never was.

Also endless are the list of studio rejections we accrued over the years. Larry and I developed screenplays at five different studios. We had two false starts in production on the movie. We were involved with prominent and commercial directors. Big name stars were interested. In one instance hundreds of people were employed, sets were being built - An A-list director and top artists in the industry were given their walking papers when the studio financing the movie lost faith.

After all these years of rejection, this is the same project, the same movie, over which two studios are now spending millions of dollars contesting ownership. Irony indeed, and then some.

Through the years, inverse of the lack of studio faith has been the passionate belief by many many individuals - movie professionals who were also passionate fans of the graphic novel - who, yes, wanted to work on the film, but more for reasons of just wanting to see the movie get made, to see this movie get made and made right, donated their time and talent to help push the film forward: Writers gave us free screenplay drafts; conceptual art was supplied by illustrators, tests were performed gratis by highly respected actors and helped along and put together by editors, designers, prop makers and vfx artists; we were the recipients of donated studio and work space, lighting and camera equipment. Another irony, given the commercial stakes implied by the pitched legal dispute between Fox and Warners, is that for years Watchmen has been a project that has survived on the fumes of whatever could be begged, borrowed and stolen - A charity case for all intents and purposes. None of that effort, none of that passion and emotional involvement, is considered in the framework of this legal dispute.

From my point of view, the flashpoint of this dispute, came in late spring of 2005. Both Fox and Warner Brothers were offered the chance to make Watchmen. They were submitted the same package, at the same time. It included a cover letter describing the project and its history, budget information, a screenplay, the graphic novel, and it made mention that a top director was involved.

And it's at this point, where the response from both parties could not have been more radically different.

The response we got from Fox was a flat "pass." That's it. An internal Fox email documents that executives there felt the script was one of the most unintelligible pieces of shit they had read in years. Conversely, Warner Brothers called us after having read the script and said they were interested in the movie - yes, they were unsure of the screenplay, and had many questions, but wanted to set a meeting to discuss the project, which they promptly did. Did anyone at Fox ask to meet on the movie? No. Did anyone at Fox express any interest in the movie? No. Express even the slightest interest in the movie? Or the graphic novel? No.

From there, the executives at Warner Brothers, who weren't yet completely comfortable with the movie, made a deal to acquire the movie rights and we all started to creatively explore the possibility of making Watchmen. We discussed creative approaches and started offering the movie to directors, our former director having moved on by then. After a few director submissions, Zack Snyder came onboard, well before the release of his movie 300. In fact, well before its completion. This was a gut, creative call by Larry, me and the studio... Zack didn't have a huge commercial track record, yet we all felt he was the right guy for the movie.

Warner Brothers continued to support, both financially and creatively, the development of the movie. And eventually, after over a year of work, they agreed to make the film, based on a script that, for what it's worth, was by and large very similar to the one Fox initially read and deemed an unintelligible piece of shit.

Now here's the part that has to be fully appreciated, if for nothing more than providing insight into producing movies in Hollywood: The Watchmen script was way above the norm in length, near 150 pages, meaning the film could clock in at close to 3 hours, the movie would not only be R rated but a hard R - for graphic violence and explicit sex - would feature no stars, and had a budget north of $100M. We also asked Warner Brothers to support an additional 1 to 1.5 hours of content incurring additional cost that would tie in with the movie but only be featured in DVD iterations of the film. Warners supported the whole package and I cannot begin to emphasize how ballsy and unprecedented a move this was on the part of a major Hollywood studio. Unheard of. And would another studio in Hollywood, let alone a studio that didn't show one shred of interest in the movie, not one, have taken such a risk? Would they ever have made such a commitment, a commitment to a film that defied all conventional wisdom?

Only the executives at Fox can answer that question. But if they were to be honest, their answer would have to be "No."

Shouldn't Warner Brothers be entitled to the spoils - if any -- of the risk they took in supporting and making Watchmen? Should Fox have any claim on something they could have had but chose to neither support nor show any interest in?

Look at it another way... One reason the movie was made was because Warner Brothers spent the time, effort and money to engage with and develop the project. If Watchmen was at Fox the decision to make the movie would never have been made because there was no interest in moving forward with the project.

Does a film studio have the right to stand in the way of an artistic endeavor and determine that it shouldn't exist? If the project had been sequestered at Fox, if Fox had any say in the matter, Watchmen simply wouldn't exist today, and there would be no film for Fox to lay claim on. It seems beyond cynical for the studio to claim ownership at this point.

By his own admission, Judge Feess is faced with an extremely complex legal case, with a contradictory contractual history, making it difficult to ascertain what is legally right. Are there circumstances here that are more meaningful, which shed light on what is ultimately just, to be taken into account when assessing who is right? In this case, what is morally right, beyond the minutiae of decades-old contractual semantics, seems clear cut.

For the sake of the artists involved, for the hundreds of people, executives and filmmakers, actors and crew, who invested their time, their money, and dedicated a good portion of their lives in order to bring this extraordinary project to life, the question of what is right is clear and unambiguous - Fox should stand down with its claim.

My father, who was a lawyer and a stickler for the minutiae of the law, was always quick to teach me that the determination of what is right and wrong was not the sole purview of the courts. I bet someone at Fox had a parent like mine who instilled the same sense of fairness and justice in them.

Lloyd Levin"

It is the height of irony that no one wanted to touch this movie for years, but once Zack Snyder, the golden boy director, was attached it become this huge hot property. At this point, we're all waiting for the judge, unless Fox and WB can settle.

Hat tip: Perez Hilton

Japanese Watchmen Trailer

Lots of new footage! Coolio!

Hat tip: Ain't It Cool

Zack Snyder explains why Watchmen is so Important

Watchmen Exclusive


In full geek mode, the director of Watchmen, Zack Snyder, explains why the graphic novel is so important, and the motivations of each super hero character.

I'm still crossing my fingers that there will be a settlement between Fox and Warner Brothers. The legal battles have been heating up, with Fox getting a ruling from a judge that they did still have the rights to the Watchmen movie. Will fans be able to see the movie in March? Will Warner Brothers blink? Stay tuned, fans...

Awesome new Watchmen Trailer

This is the first one that really lays out the setup for Watchmen. Love the music in this -- little bit of Phillip Glass, and rounding it out with Muse.
Hat tip: Awards Daily

New Watchmen Posters

These look awesome!

Watchmen & Twilight Trailers on Spike

At the Spike TV 2008 Scream Awards, they showed a few exclusive new trailers. Below see Watchmen with an intro by a few of the stars and Zack Snyder. I knew that Zack would call it "awesome," because in case you didn't know that's his favorite word. ;) (Love ya, Zack!)


Also, an extended scene from Twilight. We've seen some of this before, but they gave us a wee bit more:


Hat tip: The Movie Blog

Mallrats Watchmen Mashup Trailer

This is sheer brilliance, mashing up clips from Mallrats to the Watchmen trailer!!
Hat tip: Movie Geeks, We Are

Kevin Smith Joygasmic about Watchmen

Kevin Smith saw Watchmen and posted about it on his blog:

I saw “Watchmen.” It’s fucking astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off.

Remember that feeling of watching “Sin City” on the big screen and being blown away by what a faithful translation of the source material it was, in terms of both content and visuals? Triple that, and you’ll come close to watching “Watchmen.” Even Alan Moore might be surprised at how close the movie is to the book. March can’t come soon enough.

NYT Magazine interviews Matthew Goode

Anyone wonder why I adore Matthew Goode, who is currently starring in Brideshead Revisited, and will be in the upcoming Watchmen? Watch this interview and be charmed as Matthew has a glass of wine with us.

More glorious pics and a further interview in the magazine:

After “Match Point,” Goode was deluged with offers to play similar characters. “When it comes to acting, it is very limiting to be English,” he said. “It was ‘Bring on the posh!’ All the parts I was being offered involved my accent or someone with money and title. Charles Ryder was a departure. He’s nothing like those other men. And nothing like me.”

I find it a very traumatic experience to watch myself in films. It makes me physically sick: I get hot in my nether regions and have to take a sponge bath.” Goode laughed. “I just don’t buy me. It’s hard to watch my booming self.”

Now, if only Brideshead's limited release would reach my suburban theaters!

Zack Snyder Interview

Variety snagged an exclusive interview with Zack Snyder about Watchmen.

Zack Snyder is currently battling with Warners over the ultimate running time of the movie, which is three hours. He's trying to cut it down, but doesn't want to lose a character like Hollis, a guy who gets murdered about half way through. ""I'm not ready for that yet. If Dark Knight got two and a half hours, Watchmen should get fifteen minutes more," he pleads. "I'm trying to be reasonable." Snyder is caught between the Scylla and Charybdis of the studio's commercial demands and the fans who love the comics.

Read the whole interview here.