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| 30 March 2005 | First Look At Watchmen
Exclusive: Empire visits Greengrass' comic book film |
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Right now, over at Aint It Cool News, our good friend Moriarty has possible bad tidings: the Watchmen movie could be in trouble, with its backers, Paramount, umming and aahing over whether to commit $100 million plus to the Paul Greengrass-directed adaptation of the classic Alan Moore-Dave Gibbons graphic novel.
Well, if they've seen what Empire saw on our recent visit to the movie's production offices at Pinewood (and they have), they wouldn't have a moment's hesitation in backing the project immediately - for Watchmen is going to rock. Hard.
Lucky beggars that we are, Empire recently got to spend a very pleasant day in the pre-production offices of Watchmen, chatting to producer Lloyd Levin, director Paul Greengrass and writer David Hayter. The talented trio were in a sharing mood, as they allowed us a peek into the creative process that looks set to produce one of the best superhero films yet.
Since Watchmen is considered by many to be the very pinnacle of graphic novels, every effort is being made to ensure that the film lives up to the book's illustrious reputation – and transfer the look and feel of the book to the screen. Which is why we saw detailed screen tests, trying out variations on Doc Manhattan's radioactive, blue look. Not to mention early costume designs for Nite Owl and Rorschach that seek to bring them up to date without losing their trademark look. Nite Owl, in particular, now looks harder and more metallic, and slightly less like a man dressed as a giant owl.
More importantly, we saw an animatic version of the first three minutes of the film, a sort of pre-shooting test that is increasingly used as a sort of animated storyboard to give the director, producers and anyone else who needs to know a clue about what this is going to look like. And if this is any clue, Watchmen is going to look spectacular.
We also had a squizz at the planned designs and models for the major locations and sequences of the film. Greengrass also showed us some of his touchpoints for the feel and themes of the film – let's just say, this isn't going to be The Powerpuff Girls.
Watchmen Special
For the full story, including a few spoilers for the first few minutes of the film, read the rundown of Empire's day out at Watchmen here. We'll bring you more Watchmen news regularly throughout production, so watch this space! |
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