Zack Snyder Speaks!!!

Thanks to eMMe from CinemaNotizie.COM for the link.

EXCLUSIVE: Colleen Doran Interview

Colleen Doran is an American comic book writer and artist, best known for her fantasy series A Distant Soil.

Doran broke into the comic book industry when still a teenager, in the 1980s. A Distant Soil was originally published by Wendy and Richard Pini's WaRP Graphics, publishers of Elfquest, but Doran subsequently left the company due to an acrimonious dispute with Richard Pini, whom she alleged was attempting to claim copyright on her work. The WaRP version of the story was never reprinted, despite its unusual all-pencil style, although Colleen Doran did reprint a short Distant Soil story that had appeared in a WaRP anthology. Doran has since illustrated hundreds of comics, graphic novels, books and magazines and dozens of stories and articles.

Rorschachs Journal recently had the opportunity to speak with Colleen about the forthcoming 'Watchmen' Film:

RJ: The Watchmen Movie, what are your greatest hopes and fears?

CD: Well, my greatest hope is that it will be a wonderful movie, true to the book! And my greatest fear is that it won't! I dread a Watchmen film that has little resemblance to the source material, but we've seen that time and again. I hope that the Hollywood people will trust Allan Moore's story enough to leave it as it is, as much as possible.

RJ: If you were chosen to storyboard the film, would you emulate Dave Gibbons' work or try a new approach?

CD: Oh, I would stick to what Gibbons has done. Definitely. It's a very clean, no nonsense approach. I've always thought that the more complex the story, the cleaner the approach should be on the art.

RJ: What do you think of the casting thus far?

CD: I was keen on all of the casting except for Ozymandius. I really had my heart set on Jude Law. Otherwise, everyone looks great.

RJ: In your opinion, what are some of the bigger script challenges the writers and Zack Snyder are facing?

CD: The massive content of the story, cramming it all into a feature film. Honestly, I'd have gone with a miniseries.

Frankly, the biggest challenge is always industry money people interfering with creative work.

RJ: Would you include the pirate sub-plot in the script if it were up to you?

CD: I don't see how they could fit in in there with everything else going on. I imagine they'll cut it, but frankly, cutting anything makes my hair go the wrong way.

RJ: Any last thoughts or comments on the film so far?

CD: Please God, let it be good!

www.colleendoran.com

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Talks Watchmen

From superheroflix.com: When you traipse through the (name removed) Hotel in Vancouver, B.C., there's no telling whom you might run into. Dubbed the (name removed) by Arielle Kebbel, on location this month filming A Tale of Two Sisters, its where most actors end up crashing when they are shipped off to the country of back bacon and Pilsner beer for a gig. As soon as I walked in the door of the swanky accommodations, I spotted Robocop's Miguel Ferrer heading off to a party. Then Kebbel waltzed through with a huge smile on her face. Later that night, a few fellow journalists from IESB.net, IGN.com, and I spotted Jeffery Dean Morgan hanging out in the lounge.

I went up to the man and chatted with him for a moment. He was a very pleasant and corrigible fellow, though I sensed that he could kill me in a heartbeat. If you didn't know, he is playing The Comedian in Zack Snyder's theatrical adaptation of Watchmen (not to be confused with Keanu Reeves' The Night Watchman). I asked how his shoot was going, and he said, "They have us all up here in Vancouver on a very regimented diet and workout program. We're all in training right now." About the actual movie, he claimed, "We're all being kept in the dark about what is actually going on with the production. Everybody is asking me about, and I don't know much myself. They are pretty much keeping me in the dark as well. You probably know more than me." [More]

Zack Snyder to direct 'Illustrated'

Warner Bros. has tattooed Zack Snyder's name on its redo of "The Illustrated Man." The helmer, busy prepping "Watchmen" for the studio, is attached to direct and produce the remake based on Ray Bradbury's collection of short stories by the same name. "Watchmen" scribe Alex Tse will tackle the screenplay. The collection, first published in 1951, is narrated by a mysterious man with living tattoos that predict the future. Rod Steiger starred in the title role for the 1969 bigscreen adaptation, distributed by Warner Bros.-Seven Arts; Claire Bloom co-starred. Di Novi Pictures and Snyder's shingle, Cruel and Unusual Films, are producing the remake. Denise Di Novi, and Deborah Snyder, the helmer's wife and producing partner, are also producing, along with Frank Darabont. Cruel and Unusual's Wesley Coller and Di Novi's Alison Greenspan are exec producing. [More]

René A. Guzman: A 'Watchmen' T-shirt to die for

From blogs.mysanantonio.com: If you love "Watchmen" (and c'mon, who doesn't?) then you must, must, must vote to get this T-shirt made.

The designer notes the watches (natch) symbolize the major "Watchmen" characters, adding that the watches were also "symbolically placed, again with allusion to the storyline." Now that's true fanboy love. [More]

Tyler Bates Interview

From shocktillyoudrop.com (via comics2film.com): Composer Tyler Bates scored '300' for Zack Snyder. He's since been invited to work on 'Watchmen' with the director as well. In an extensive interview with ShockTilYouDrop.com, Bates talks about his process, his films and what he has in store for the controversial comic book adaptation:

You can't talk about the modern horror movie without discussing the remakes, and while there have been many dogs, one of the remakes that still stands up three years later is Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead. Before you start up on the tired fast-vs-slow zombies debate, that's not what we're here to talk about. No, this is about the musician who composed the film's score, Tyler Bates, who has been making waves in Hollywood after a number of breakout hit movies. Soon after doing the score for Dawn, Bates was working with Rob Zombie on his 2005 sequel The Devil's Rejects and with Dawn writer James Gunn on his directorial debut Slither, placing Bates firmly among the pantheon of modern horror movie composers. [More]

Watchmen Shares 'Smallville' & Other's Space

Officials in the Vancouver suburb that is a hub for runaway production insist that the strength of the Canadian dollar is not scaring away any of their greenback business. After Montreal for 300, it's Burnaby for Watchmen. According to a recent report by the British Columbia Film Commission, film and TV production in the province during the first quarter of 2007 was down about 20%, with 34 projects in production compared to 42 for the same period last year. But don’t tell that to folks in Burnaby, B.C., a suburb of Vancouver that owns 56% of the Lower Mainland region’s soundstage space. “We’re not seeing any shift at all; if anything, it’s business as usual,” the city’s filming coordinator Susan Rae tells the Burnaby News Leader. “I don’t know if it would make any difference if it [the Canadian dollar] goes to [U.S.] par. We’re so set up now with really good crews and studio space.” Productions currently camped out in Burnaby include the TV series Smallville and the 2009 feature Watchmen, Zack Snyder’s follow-up to 300. The latter is currently in pre-production there, with plans to roll from September through February, 2008. [More]

Billy Crudup Interview

Billy Crudup was recently interviewed in WireImage's latest podcast. Take a listen/look. [More]

'Watchmen' adds Gugino as do-gooder

Carla Gugino has joined the cast of "Watchmen," Warner Bros. Pictures' adaptation of the DC Comics limited series being directed by Zack Snyder. Gugino joins Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman in the movie, which is set in an alternate America that has passed a law banning costumed crimefighters. When one is murdered, the remaining members set out to solve the mystery. Gugino will play Sally Jupiter, a burlesque dancer-turned-costumed heroine and sex symbol the Silk Spectre who is part of the Minutemen, a group of heroes who preceded the Watchmen. She also is the mother of the new Silk Spectre (Akerman). [More]

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