Tagged: Zack Snyder

‘Watchmen’ Atop Amazon Fiction Sales

  • News
  • July 28, 2008

From a Wired article about the excessive success of this year’s Comic-Con is a little tidbit about the success of comics: Watchmen is now sitting at the top of Amazon’s fiction and literature sales list.

DC has been printing up copies like mad to meet the demand, which is of course churned up by the upcoming Zack Snyder film adaptation.

From the article:

Last week’s release of the movie’s trailer sent sales of a paperback collection of Alan Moore’s original Watchmen comics through the roof. The graphic novel now sits at the top of Amazon.com’s literature and fiction sales list.

"That’s never happened before," said DC’s Levitz. "We literally can’t print enough…. I don’t think we’ve been able to kill any more trees fast enough."

San Diego Comic-Con Gets ‘Watchmen’ Clips, Nite Owl’s Ship?

San Diego Comic-Con Gets ‘Watchmen’ Clips, Nite Owl’s Ship?

  • News
  • June 26, 2008

There’s a lot of Watchmen news hitting the ‘Net these days, as we chase the shot of fake "Veidt Enterprises" commercials we posted earlier with some San Diego Comic-Con International rumors related to the big-screen adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel.

Cinematical has provided a nice synopsis of the interesting bits gleaned from several recent video interviews with Watchmen director Zack Snyder.

According to Cinematical (I haven’t had a chance to watch the videos myself, so I’m taking their word for it), the videos indicate that there’s a high probability of seeing the first clips from Watchmen prior to screenings of The Dark Knight next month. There should also be some extra footage shown during Comic-Con later that month, too. Additionally, Snyder hinted that Nite Owl’s flying ship might make an appearance during Comic-Con.

Be sure to check out the Cliff’s Notes version of the Snyder video over on Cinematical for a few more items of note, and when you have the time (there’s around 10 minutes of video to watch), view the full interview over at Collider.

 

 

Interview With Larry Fong, Cinematographer for ‘Watchmen’

Interview With Larry Fong, Cinematographer for ‘Watchmen’

  • News
  • April 28, 2008

While much of the hubbub over the movie adaptation of Watchmen has related to director Zack Snyder’s thematic and narrative choices, questions also remain over how the movie will visually reflect Dave Gibbons’ work on the seminal comic.

In answering some of those questions, Larry Fong, who is the cinematographer on the film, spoke with ComicUS (scroll down for the English version). Fong, who also worked on 300, said Watchmen will use less green screen than that film and will try to hew closely to Gibbons’ art.

There isn’t an underlying template on the movie per se. In fact one of the most exciting things about it is that it’s kind of all over the place, visually. We had so many opportunities to explore different looks and there’s even a few scenes that pay homage to other films…I won’t give anything away just yet, of course. …

In Zack’s storyboards, there are frames that are very similar to those in the graphic novel. But photographically, it was more important for me to capture the spirit of Watchmen. That’s more of an intuitive process.

Fong also hinted at Snyder’s next project:

Zack is planning to make another film next year based on an original story he’s had in his head for a long time. It’s crazier and wilder than all his films put together… hopefully I’ll be working on it too!

‘Watchmen’ Compared: Movie vs. Comics

‘Watchmen’ Compared: Movie vs. Comics

  • News
  • April 7, 2008

The biggest question regarding the currently filming adaptation of Watchmen has to be how it will compare to the original comics series, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The comics are some of the most highly regarded works ever created, and so the filmmakers face the task of not only making a quality movie, but also of appeasing fans of the book.

A new report over at Slashfilm takes some new photos from set locations and puts them next to Gibbons’ original art, so fans can decide for themselves how close director Zack Snyder is hewing to the source material. The locations include:

  • Dr. Manhattan’s lab
  • Dr. Manhattan’s apartment
  • Rorschach’s jail cell
  • The Comedian’s apartment
  • Mason’s Auto Repair
  • and the New York City streets

In other Watchmen movie news, ComingSoon has some video from the set, which you can check out right here.

‘300’ Leads Saturn Award Nominees

‘300’ Leads Saturn Award Nominees

  • News
  • February 20, 2008
Today, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films announced its nominees for the 34th Annual Saturn Awards. Topping the list with 10 nominations is Zack Snyder’s 300 with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix following a close second with 9. Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is in the third spot with 8 nominations. 
 
Some of the other films being honored with nominations include The Golden Compass, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Spider-Man 3, which all recieved 4. Also in contention for the coveted Saturn award are The Bourne Ultimatum, Eastern Promises, Enchanted, Grindhouse, Stephen King’s The Mist, No Country for Old Men, Stardust and There Will Be Blood, all of which received 3 nominations. 
 
Turning to the smaller screen, Lost found itself with 7 nominations while Dexter slashed its way to 5 and Heroes stood tall with 4. The Academy also announced two special awards that would be given at the ceremony this year:
 
Director Guillermo del Toro will receive the coveted George Pal Memorial Award and author Tim Lucas will be given a Special Achievement Award for his 2007 book: Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark.
 
This year’s awards show will take place on Tuesday, June 24, in Universal City, California. For the complete list of nominees and more info, head on over to the Saturn Awards official site.
Zack Snyder Thanks Fans With New ‘Watchmen’ Pic

Zack Snyder Thanks Fans With New ‘Watchmen’ Pic

  • News
  • February 20, 2008

Recently, Watchmen Exec. Producer herb Gaines posted his thoughts on the film at its official site now that principal photography on the film is baically complete. Now, the film’s director, Zack Snyder, has followed suit and has posted some thoughts and reflections of his own.

But this time, its not just kind words from Snyder, he’s also included a bonus gift for fans as well — a brand new pic directly from the film itself. This new pic will show, as Snyder says in his post: "How it looks when it all comes together." Sadly, the pic doesn’t reveal the look of Ozymandias, Nite Owl, Doctor Manhattan or really, much detail about the film at all.

However, it does give us Rorschach setting fire to a guy, which is pretty darn cool and will certainly whet the appetite of Watchmen fans everywhere. Heck, it did for me. Come on Zack, how about some more? Soon.

Check out a much larger version of the new pic after the jump.

Watchmen hits theaters March 6, 2009

 

(more…)

Exec. Producer Gains on Wrapping ‘Watchmen’

Exec. Producer Gains on Wrapping ‘Watchmen’

  • News
  • February 18, 2008

Recently, we told you about director Zack Snyder answering fan’s questions about the new Watchmen film. Now, another update has been posted over at the film’s official site. This time around, Executive Producer Herb Gains has dropped an update sharing his thoughts about the project now that principal photography on the movie is close to being finished.

According to Gains:

"The combination of modern-day technology and the level of artistic ability of so many people has made the Watchmen experience second to none. The spirit behind the making of this film was nothing short of total pleasure and love. The one thing that remains for me is the anticipation and excitement of seeing the finished product, knowing that we’ve all worked on something very special."

The film, which features Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie and Matt Frewer hits theaters March 6, 2009. 
Zack Snyder Answers Fans’ ‘Watchmen’ Questions

Zack Snyder Answers Fans’ ‘Watchmen’ Questions

  • News
  • February 16, 2008

Over at the official Watchmen film website, director Zack Snyder has answered a pretty hefty list of questions from fans about his upcoming big-screen adaptation of the groundbreaking graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

The Q&A is divided into two parts (part one, part two) and covers a lot of ground, from the difficulties of adapting Moore and Gibbons’ use of panels and dialogue to create "scenes between the scenes" to the costumes and fight sequences of the film.

On the subject of Rorschach’s costume, Snyder shed some light on the level of detail he’s aiming for in the character’s mask and the way it reacts with Rorschach’s mood and hidden expressions:

As you can imagine, the most effective way to render the ever-changing inkblot that is Rorschach’s face is with the use of visual effects. So, we created a blank mask and strategically placed small green tracking markers on it. The markers will be used to track the contours of his face throughout the shot. There is also a hole that reveals Jackie’s [Jackie Earle Haley] eyes not only so he can see, but also to help to the VFX artists later while they animate Rorschach’s face. The opening allows them to see what Jackie’s eyes were emoting. When completed, his open-eyed, green polka dotted face will have been replaced by a CG element, a slowly changing inkblot pattern. We’ve gone through and analyzed the many inkblots from the graphic novel and have assigned them each different emotional characteristics — so that when Rorschach is experiencing something in a scene, the shape on the mask reflects his emotions in a graphic and abstract manner. I have had the opportunity to see some of the early tests and I am very pleased with how it is coming together.

Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, Snyder also addresses some of the rumors surrounding the development of The Black Freighter, the story-within-a-story that unfolds throughout the graphic novel.

 

Zack Snyder Posts Watchmen Storyboards

Zack Snyder Posts Watchmen Storyboards

  • News
  • January 21, 2008

Over at the official Watchmen film site, director Zack Snyder has posted an interesting explanation of how storyboards play into his production of a film, and even included a few boards from the much-anticipated adaptation of the Watchmen graphic novel.

The boards feature several scenes involving the character of Rorschach, played by Jackie Earle Haley.

As you can see from these frames, my storyboards aren’t necessarily super-finished art pieces on their own. I often find that the frames that get the most detail are the ones where I’m stalling – thinking of the next shots. In contrast, if I already have a sequence sorted out in my head, the boards tend to be much sketchier.

 

Hump Day Briefs

Hump Day Briefs

  • News
  • September 26, 2007

A little mini-browsing around the internets the last few days has come up with the following:

  • There is no Furries vs. Klingons bowling tournament this coming Saturday in Atlanta.  But dang, that poster is still cool.

  • Nick Mullins at The Comics Reporter notes two main reasons for the kerfuffle over the teacher who got fired over giving a 9th grader Eightball #22: the book is recommended by the Library Journal for 10th grade and up (and that recommendation applied to the series as a whole, where individual issues may vary in their amount of mature content) and, more importantly, mature situations involving art and other visuals will almost always raise more of a ruckus than those involving only words (George Carlin aside). There’s your thousand-to-one ratio at work again.

  • Nintendo has surpassed Canon to become the second biggest stock in Japan.  Toyota still rules the Japanese market.  If they come up with a car that has built-in Wii and can take pictures, it’s a lock.

  • Parallel universes have been mathematically proven to exist.  Yeah, on Earth-Geek!  Oh no wait, we are Earth-Geek aren’t we?

  • Because women aren’t exploited nearly enough in our subculture, there’s the Miss Horrorfest contest.  Self-exploit and you may win $50,000!  So there, Oscar Wilde; we’ve already established that and there’s no haggling over the price!  Is there a corresponding "Master Horrorfest" ("master" being the male equivalent of "miss" once upon a time)?  I didn’t think so.

  • Somebody let Stephen Colbert too close to the Indecision 2008 website again, as the site gets onto a Candidate Casting Couch with presidential hopefuls as superheroes.  Would you rather see Simpsons cels referencing movies juxtaposed with the actual film stills?  Sure you would.

  • Goodie, HarperCollins will be reprinting Zot!, one of my all-time favorites!  And Sony’s releasing colorized Ray Harryhausen movies!

  • Greetings from Zack Snyder on the set of the Watchmen movie.

  • Condolences to the family of the still-anonymous Batman: The Dark Knight film technician who died in a car accident (unrelated to the movie).

  • The Winnie the Pooh merchandising case has been dismissed, the main lesson being that if you’re going to sue Disney it’s probably not a good idea to be discovered poking through their trash.

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