Snyder on WATCHMEN

Wizard Universe recently caught up with director Zack Snyder and talked with him about WATCHMEN.

When asked about his recent success with 300 and any latitude he thus might have with making WATCHMEN, Snyder responded, "WATCHMEN is going to be R-rated and when you make an R-rated movie it has the potential for failure, or the potential for failure is higher. It’s difficult for them to get a handle on why the movie would be cool when the superheroes are flawed. It’s an indictment of American foreign policy and authority in general. [With] all of the crazy themes in Watchmen, [they wonder] why that’s even good or something people would want to see. I don’t know. I still say [300 is] like a student film on steroids. We shot that movie in a freaking warehouse in Montreal. It was hard and no one thought the movie was anything. When people talk about WATCHMEN like, 'Oh, Snyder has a free hand with WATCHMEN,' that’s just not the case."

In terms of a budget for the film and also marketing, the director told Wizard, "My point is when it comes to WATCHMEN and how much money we’re going to get, you have to ask what the appetite is for an R-rated movie as far as the budget goes. With WATCHMEN, from a marketing standpoint and as a filmmaker—the movie and the marketing are the same thing to me—I think, 'Okay, what shots are going to be in the trailer? What images can tell people to come to see the movie?' If you don’t look at your movie that way, you’re naïve to the process. Unless you don’t care at all about success and you just say, 'You know what? I’m making an art film. If no one goes and sees it then f--- them! I don’t care.' On the other hand, if you ever want to make another movie, then you’re in trouble if you don’t look at it from the standpoint of, 'What are the images I need here?' Dr. Manhattan walking through Vietnam 200 feet tall, the Comedian riding with the 50-caliber rifle and shooting at the Viet Cong and burning out the village…"

Production on WATCHMEN will begin in September. Click here to read the full interview with Zack Snyder.