A “highly suspect, but rumored to be legit cast wish list” for Snyder’s upcoming Watchmen adaptation has been put up on dtheatre.com. Not a casting wonk myself, so I can find nothing to gripe about here. There’s some good actors, and I’m sure they’ll do the script justice if this beast is actually made. Given Snyder’s success with 300, I’m sure Warner Bros. will be anxious to get this on the screen, and we won’t see any of the derailments that have characterized past efforts.
Poor Alan Moore has a spotty record when it comes to Hollywood. From Hell was a fair enough film, but pales in comparison to the frighteningly brilliant comic. LoEG was just flat out awful, with virtually no redeeming qualities. V for Vendetta, a film that Moore disowned entirely, succeeded in translating some of Moore’s set-pieces, and was an adequate action film, but I felt it lost the rage and vigour of the comic.
All of which has no bearing whatsoever on Watchmen. This could turn out to be a fine film, and the most successful translation of any graphic novel to date. It might also turn out to be a greasy, steaming pile of pig shit, deposited directly into your eyes and ears. Whatever happens, it does not change the fact that the comic is an excellent piece of work by two creators at the top of their game. If some terrible film comes out that tramples all over brilliant source material, it doesn’t affect the original at all. That’s why it doesn’t bother me when films don’t quite live up to their source works. If I want to read LoEG, I still can, and the fact that there’s a horrific film out there with the same name doesn’t stop me. So why fret?
Transformers fans: take heed.
ceebeegeebee 