Watchmen has surprised even the harshest of critics so far. Even original artist Dave Gibbons has praised the film’s production for it’s accuracy and amazing detail that Zack Snyder is putting into the big screen adaptation.
So what about creator Alan Moore, who has been extremely vocal in the past against the adaptations of his comics? Has he drunk the Kool Aid as well? Nope. Moore spoke with Wizard about the upcoming film, and here is what he said:
“I spoke to Dave [Gibbons] the other day. I got a piece of paper-they must’ve learned something from the V for Vendetta debacle. I got a piece of paper a couple of months ago saying, “I, the undersigned, hereby give you permission to take my name off of the film and to send my money to Dave Gibbons.” So I sent that back to them all signed and sealed, which means that now I don’t have to rant and spew about the film. I’m just simply not interested in it. Dave phoned me up, and it’s always nice to talk to Dave, but he understands that I’m not really interested in “Watchmen.” So when he phoned, he asked me if I was interested in being kept up to date on it, and I was saying, “Well, it’s always nice to talk to you, but not really.” I don’t really know much about it. I believe that it’s going ahead. I won’t be watching it, obviously. I can at least remain neutral to it as long as they’re taking my name off of it and not playing these silly, ultimately futile games like they were doing last time, which worked out so well for them. No, I’m keeping well away from all of that.
Director Snyder told fans at Comic Con 2007 that the best he can hope for is that Alan Moore will someday watch the DVD and say, “You know, they didn’t fuck it up that bad.”
“We all want to please Alan, and I think that’s a noble thing to want to do. There’s nothing wrong to get the guy who frickin’ created the thing to not hate it, I don’t think that’s an outrageous thing to want,” said Snyder. “I think the approach is to assume that the movie is better, and that’s a mistake. I would never make any assumptions.”
via: Collider
January 3rd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
I respect his decision, but, I really wish that he’d at least see the movie and realize that not all film maker are trying to distort his vision.
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
I’m sure like all great artists…He’s only interested in what he’s working on now.
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Wow, he sounds really stuck-up or something. That’s just a dumb thing for him to publicly state, and it makes him sound pretty arrogant. I mean, why even let someone make your book into a movie if you’re just either going to ignore it or hate it? Of course it’s not going to be totally genuine, it’s not a comic book! It’s a movie! I like that they’re trying to be true to the book as well, but trying to make every single thing almost exactly the same down to the posters on the wall just to please this guy is kind of foolishly time-consuming and expensive.
January 3rd, 2008 at 7:58 pm
this is all going to drive snyder even harder to perfection. We will reap the benefits in 2009.
January 3rd, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Honestly, I respect Moore for his works. I’ve loved almost everything that he’s written. But i don’t like him one bit. I realize he’s been burned in the past but instead of working close with the creation of the movies he keeps himself as far away as possible. Seems to me he’s screwing his fans by not doing whatever he can to make sure the his work gets translated into a good movie.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:00 am
As a filmmaker, I would, of course, find Moore’s attitude frustrating. But it’s his right to feel however he wants to feel about his work, and adaptations thereof. Reading his stories and watching the movies that attempt to recreate them, I have to side with the crazy old man: it’s mostly rubbish. I wouldn’t want my name on it either.
Isiaah, Moore no longer owns the rights to most of the comics he wrote in the 80s under D.C. That’s why film adaptations continue to be made, and since he knows it will never be true to the vision in his head, he chooses to remove himself from it entirely. It’s not like he’s selling the rights himself and then turning his back.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Liz, Moore’s frustration may be even be greater because of his original arrangement with DC comics. Although he and Gibbons jointly own the copyright, DC retained media rights until such time as “The Watchmen” was no longer in print. Moore’s said that he expected that wouldn’t be all that long, given the success of the graphic novel format to that point in history. But it’s never been out of print since its publication in 1986, so… George
January 4th, 2008 at 5:14 am
While I love Moore catalog of amazing works and what he’s done for the comicbook industry. He’s also an obnoxious prick. Maybe he should try and work with guys like Snyder.
Like how Miller worked with Rodriguez. It doesn’t hurt to try and be there even when Snyder gave him an open invite.
Whatever, I’m very much looking forward to Snyder’s next film. He’s proved himself to be a great director thus far.
January 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Well, the way I see it Moore is pretty much allowing this the same reason Carpenter would allow a remake of Escape From New York, he’s old and he wants/likes the money. Sad as it may seem a lot of these old skool incredibly talented and passionate comic book creators are not young anymore. The viral non conformist and rebels that we knew are no longer there. I see that we will always have the comics, and nothing can take those precious things from us. Of course they will ruin it for younger generations to come. This is awful, they should seriously just stop making movies based off graphic novels and comic books in general. No matter how profitable they are, they are unethical.
January 4th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Jenbot,
From what i recall, Moore has not accepted any money for the adaptions of his work. He’s always refused the payments. He also has no say in what gets made into a movie because he doesn’t own the rights to his work.
January 4th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I dig a lot of Moore’s stuff, though by no means all of it. While much of his writing is perfect for the mixed visual/text world of comics I don’t think it works to the fullest in a medium like movies.
I think a lot of the success of his stories comes from the pacing of the story mixed with the visuals. That is fine in a comic book spread out over several issues or a graphic novel collection. People complain about how decompressed modern comic book storytelling has become, with whole issues of back story and character reactions. A lot of this can be attributed (or blamed) on Moore’s success with the same sort of methods.
A 6 hour movie with long scenes of characters thinking, or just being really wouldn’t work well for the mainstream market that is required for a movie to really make enough money to payoff the studio’s risks these days. They core can be kept, but as an artist, I doubt that is enough for him.