Posted 08 March 2008 - 12:36 PM
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film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' twelve-issue Hugo Award-winning comic book limited series Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder. The film stars Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Ackerman, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, Stephen McHattie and Carla Gugino. Set in 1985, the film follows a group of former vigilantes as war begins to break out between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film began shooting in Vancouver in September 2007 for release on March 6, 2009.[1] Like his previous film 300, Snyder closely modeled his storyboards on the comic, but unlike that film, he chose not to shoot all the film using chroma key.
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* Patrick Wilson as Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl: A retired vigilante superhero with technological experience.[3] John Cusack, a fan of the graphic novel, expressed interest in the role.[4]
* Billy Crudup as Dr. Jon Osterman / Doctor Manhattan: A superhero with genuine powers who works for the U.S. government. The role was once pursued by actor Keanu Reeves,[5] but the actor abandoned pursuit due to the studio holding up the project over budget concerns.[3] Crudup provides motion capture for the computer-generated character, and also plays Osterman in flashback as a human.[1]
* Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian: A vigilante superhero who is commissioned by the U.S. government. Prior to Morgan's casting, producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin met with Ron Perlman to discuss portraying the Comedian.[6] Morgan found the role challenging, explaining, "For some reason, in reading the novel, you don't hate this guy even though he does things that are unmentionable. [...] My job is to kind of make that translate, so as a viewer you end up not making excuses to like him, but you don't hate him like you should for doing the things that he does."[7]
* Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach: A vigilante superhero who continues his vigilante activities after they are outlawed. He was transformed over time from a "soft" costumed hero into a killer who sees the world in black and white.[3] Rorschach wears a mask with ink blots that morph to reflect his emotions: motion capture markers were put on the contours of Earle Haley's blank mask, for animators to create his ever-changing expressions.[8] Haley found the mask "incredibly motivating for the character" because of its confining design, which heated up quickly.[9] Small holes were made in the mask for him to see.[8]
* Malin Åkerman as Laurie Juspeczyk / Silk Spectre: A retired vigilante superhero. Åkerman described her character as the psychology and the emotion of the film due to being the only woman among the men. The actress worked out and trained to fight for her portrayal of the crimefighter.[10]
* Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias: A retired vigilante superhero who has since made his identity public. The role of Ozymandias was originally connected to actors Jude Law[5] and Tom Cruise,[11] but they left the project behind due to the studio's delay in handling the budget.[3]
* Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason / Nite Owl: The first vigilante to take up the mantle of Nite Owl.[1]
* Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre: A vigilante superhero who retires and becomes the mother of Laurie Juspeczyk. Gugino's character ages from 25 years old in the 1940s to 67 years old in the 1980s, and the actress wore prosthetics to reflect the aging process. Gugino described her character's superhero outfit as an influence of Bettie Page-meets-Alberto Vargas. The actress donned the trademark hairdo of the character, though it was shaped to be more plausible for the film.[12]
* Matt Frewer as Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic: An elderly rehabilitated criminal, who acted as an underworld kingpin and magician when he was younger.[13]
* Niall Matter as Mothman: He is not a main focus of the storyline, but appears in flashbacks, at one point reduced in his later years to fragile sanity, unnerving the second Silk Spectre. He is regarded fondly by most of the Minutemen, and the first Nite Owl sends the second to visit him, uncostumed, on his behalf.[14]
Actor Gerard Butler, who worked with Snyder on 300, is voicing the Captain in the The Black Freighter, an anime intended for release on the DVD.[15] He was first announced at the 2007 WonderCon to have a role in Watchmen.[16] In May 2007, Butler said that he had yet to be cast into a specific role and may not appear in the film.[17] He is currently being considered for the main character in "The Black Freighter" comic within the story, for the DVD. "I know they were talking about that and at one point that part was cut from the film because of budget, but then they were talking about it again so I don't know. [...] But even a tiny little thing I would do for Zack Snyder. He's my boy."[7]
Actor Thomas Jane said in June 2007 that Snyder had expressed interest in casting him in the film.[18] Snyder said he wanted younger actors due to the many flashback scenes, and it was easier to age actors with make-up rather than cast two actors in the same role.[1]
Production for Watchmen began casting in July 2007 for look-alikes of the era's famous names for the film, including Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, H.R. Haldeman, Ted Koppel, John McLaughlin, Annie Leibovitz, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, Norman Rockwell, John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Mao Zedong and Larry King.[19] The actor playing Nixon used a full face prosthetic.
* Billy Crudup as Dr. Jon Osterman / Doctor Manhattan: A superhero with genuine powers who works for the U.S. government. The role was once pursued by actor Keanu Reeves,[5] but the actor abandoned pursuit due to the studio holding up the project over budget concerns.[3] Crudup provides motion capture for the computer-generated character, and also plays Osterman in flashback as a human.[1]
* Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian: A vigilante superhero who is commissioned by the U.S. government. Prior to Morgan's casting, producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin met with Ron Perlman to discuss portraying the Comedian.[6] Morgan found the role challenging, explaining, "For some reason, in reading the novel, you don't hate this guy even though he does things that are unmentionable. [...] My job is to kind of make that translate, so as a viewer you end up not making excuses to like him, but you don't hate him like you should for doing the things that he does."[7]
* Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach: A vigilante superhero who continues his vigilante activities after they are outlawed. He was transformed over time from a "soft" costumed hero into a killer who sees the world in black and white.[3] Rorschach wears a mask with ink blots that morph to reflect his emotions: motion capture markers were put on the contours of Earle Haley's blank mask, for animators to create his ever-changing expressions.[8] Haley found the mask "incredibly motivating for the character" because of its confining design, which heated up quickly.[9] Small holes were made in the mask for him to see.[8]
* Malin Åkerman as Laurie Juspeczyk / Silk Spectre: A retired vigilante superhero. Åkerman described her character as the psychology and the emotion of the film due to being the only woman among the men. The actress worked out and trained to fight for her portrayal of the crimefighter.[10]
* Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias: A retired vigilante superhero who has since made his identity public. The role of Ozymandias was originally connected to actors Jude Law[5] and Tom Cruise,[11] but they left the project behind due to the studio's delay in handling the budget.[3]
* Stephen McHattie as Hollis Mason / Nite Owl: The first vigilante to take up the mantle of Nite Owl.[1]
* Carla Gugino as Sally Jupiter / Silk Spectre: A vigilante superhero who retires and becomes the mother of Laurie Juspeczyk. Gugino's character ages from 25 years old in the 1940s to 67 years old in the 1980s, and the actress wore prosthetics to reflect the aging process. Gugino described her character's superhero outfit as an influence of Bettie Page-meets-Alberto Vargas. The actress donned the trademark hairdo of the character, though it was shaped to be more plausible for the film.[12]
* Matt Frewer as Edgar Jacobi / Moloch the Mystic: An elderly rehabilitated criminal, who acted as an underworld kingpin and magician when he was younger.[13]
* Niall Matter as Mothman: He is not a main focus of the storyline, but appears in flashbacks, at one point reduced in his later years to fragile sanity, unnerving the second Silk Spectre. He is regarded fondly by most of the Minutemen, and the first Nite Owl sends the second to visit him, uncostumed, on his behalf.[14]
Actor Gerard Butler, who worked with Snyder on 300, is voicing the Captain in the The Black Freighter, an anime intended for release on the DVD.[15] He was first announced at the 2007 WonderCon to have a role in Watchmen.[16] In May 2007, Butler said that he had yet to be cast into a specific role and may not appear in the film.[17] He is currently being considered for the main character in "The Black Freighter" comic within the story, for the DVD. "I know they were talking about that and at one point that part was cut from the film because of budget, but then they were talking about it again so I don't know. [...] But even a tiny little thing I would do for Zack Snyder. He's my boy."[7]
Actor Thomas Jane said in June 2007 that Snyder had expressed interest in casting him in the film.[18] Snyder said he wanted younger actors due to the many flashback scenes, and it was easier to age actors with make-up rather than cast two actors in the same role.[1]
Production for Watchmen began casting in July 2007 for look-alikes of the era's famous names for the film, including Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, H.R. Haldeman, Ted Koppel, John McLaughlin, Annie Leibovitz, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, Norman Rockwell, John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Mao Zedong and Larry King.[19] The actor playing Nixon used a full face prosthetic.
