“Before Watchmen” Officially Announced By DC
The big geek news of the week, easily dwarfing everything else, is the official announcement from DC Entertainment that the long rumored prequels to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s seminal Watchmen would be coming this year, now officially titled Before Watchmen. To say this is a controversial movie on the part of DC is a massive understatement. The original graphic novel, originally serialized in twelve parts, is regarded as THE greatest work of comic book fiction by many, even some twenty five years after it was concluded. Author Alan Moore has long wanted no part in any continuation of his seminal work, and even had his name taken off the 2009 movie adaptation. In speaking to the New York Times, Moore had this to say about Before Watchmen: “It is completely shameless. I don’t want money. What I want is for this not to happen.”
The collection of writers and artists on Before Watchmen is of the highest caliber, each tackling a different mini series based on one of the characters from the original. The announced line up of series and creators is as follows:
- RORSCHACH (4 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: Lee Bermejo
- MINUTEMEN (6 issues) – Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cooke
- COMEDIAN (6 issues) – Writer: Brian Azzarello. Artist: J.G. Jones
- DR. MANHATTAN (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artist: Adam Hughes
- NITE OWL (4 issues) – Writer: J. Michael Straczynski. Artists: Andy and Joe Kubert
- OZYMANDIAS (6 issues) – Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Jae Lee
- SILK SPECTRE (4 issues) – Writer: Darwyn Cooke. Artist: Amanda Conner
Also included in each mini series will be a back-up series, The Curse of the Crimson Corsair, by comics writing legend Len Wein, and art by original series colorist John Higgins–the only creative person from the original project involved in any way with this new one. I’m pretty sure some or most of these mini series will be decent, hell…maybe even great. But that’s not the point—the point is that the original author sees Watchmen as a completed project, and just to satisfy the all mighty dollar, DC has chosen to ignore his wishes. I can’t blame any of the participants for being involved in this new project; comics don’t pay that great and if this is successful, they are all in for a great deal of money. I’d say yes if I were them too.
And yes…I also realize Alan Moore is being a bit of a hypocrite on this one, calling out DC for mining his work. Considering that Moore has spent the last decade of his career mining the works of famous 19th century authors, both with his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Lost Girls books, it is the pot calling the kettle black a bit. Nevertheless, those authors of those original works are long dead, and can’t give and opinion one way or the other; Moore is alive and has expressed his desire that they leave his work alone. Considering that Watchmen has sold more than two million copies and made a small fortune for DC, you’d think simply out of respect, DC EIC Dan Didio wouldn’t do this. When Paul Levitz was EIC of DC, he stopped any and all attempts at continuing Watchmen for 20+ years…and not out of any love for Alan Moore mind you, as those two had plenty of bad blood between them; it was simply out of respect for the man who created their single most acclaimed graphic novel.
Since this project was announced, the other argument I’ve heard the most on the pro Before Watchmen side is that plenty of stories have been made over the decades for Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and the like, well beyond the original creator’s intentions. But ALL those creators knew they were creating characters for ongoing serialized magazines, while Watchmen was a complete work with a proper beginning, middle and end. It was not meant to go on forever. While I agree that the world of Watchmen certainly is ripe for continuation, if the original creator doesn’t want it done, then it shouldn’t even be a question.
Russell Crowe To Captain A Much Bigger Boat Than In Master & Commander
Darren Aronofsky’s next film, a big budget spectacle made out of the Biblical story of Noah and the flood, has started to take a little bit more shape this week. According to Deadline.com, Aronofsky wants not only Russell Crowe as the titular Noah, but also Liam Neeson for another as yet unspecified part, although rumor has it that he will play some kind of villain (is there really a villain in the story of the Great Flood? I mean, aside from, ya know… God?) A few actors have been rumored for the part of Noah since this project was first announced, including both Christian Bale and Michael Fassbender, but both of those actors were booked for the next year or more solid. Noah is said to be going before the cameras by the summer of this year for a 2013 debut. Between this and Steven Spielberg’s Moses flick, it looks to be all about the Old Testament on the big screen next year. How long before Mel Gibson gets in on this?
Evil Dead Remake Gains One, Loses One
The Evil Dead remake lost one cast member this past week, and gained another one. Actress Lily Collins (star of the upcoming Mirror Mirror and daughter of pop star Phil Collins) who was all set for the part of the female lead, had to drop out due to those pesky “scheduling conflicts.” Which probably really meant that she thought the movie was going to suck, and got a better part she could take instead. But while the production lost their female lead, they gained the part of the male lead in newcomer Shiloh Fernandez. The pretty boy actor was in last year’s Red Riding Hood, but before you fanboys get up have a coronary, he won’t be playing the part of Ash—the role Bruce Campbell made famous in the original films won’t even be in this remake.
Back to the Future….The Musical?
Lots of people, myself included, love to groan and moan about the fact that Hollywood is remake crazy lately. And while that’s true, there is really no place like Broadway when it comes to pushing product that is based on something else. Right now, nine out ten of the top grossing Broadway musicals are revivals of older shows , or musicals based off pre-existing material like Wicked and The Lion King. So..why not a Back to the Future musical? Writer and director Robert Zemeckis is in talks to bring his iconic 1985 film to Broadway. Zemeckis is in early discussion with co-writer Bob Gale and the film’s composer, Alan Silvestri, to adapt the film for stage. Despite all the negative reviews, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark has been packing them in, so Broadway is no doubt eager for another spectacle musical based off a much beloved property. And you know what? I’d MUCH rather have a musical of Back to the Future than a Part IV or a remake. If this show saves us from either of those, then more power to ‘em I say.
Colin Firth To Star In West Memphis 3 Biopic
The sad, strange saga of the Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley – three teenagers from West Memphis Arkansas who have been labeled by the media as the “West Memphis Three”, has been a minor obsession of mine since I first rented a documentary film called Paradise Lost on VHS way back in 1996. Watching the film, I was outraged that such a gross miscarriage of justice could be carried out and three innocent boys could be sentenced to death for a crime they clearly did not commit. The crime in question was the brutal 1993 murders of three little boys the local community labeled as “Satanic Ritual,” mostly due to Echol’s love of horror and heavy metal music, and not based on much else. Paradise Lost was followed by two sequels, and just this year Peter Jackson produced another documentary on the subject called West of Memphis. Thanks to the efforts of Jackson and others in the entertainment biz who fought their case, last August the WM3 were finally freed from prison, although they had to give a false admission of guilt to do so. I know, it doesn’t make a lick of sense to me either. But the admission of guilt prevents the WM3 from suing the state of Arkansas for every penny it has for taking eighteen years of their lives from them.
Now Hollywood is producing a fictionalized version of the case called The Devil’s Knot, directed by acclaimed Canadian director Atom Egoyan. Oscar winner Colin Firth has just signed on to star as Ron Lax, the private investigator whose detective work helped get the WM3 released from prison last year. The judge freed the men based in large part on evidence that Lax found. On top of that, Lax found DNA evidence that linked the stepfather of one of the murdered boys to material that was used to bind one of the victims. According to the producers, the movie “is not about how they got out of prison, It’s about how they got in.” The film will be told through Lax’s eyes as well as through the eyes of Pam Hobbs, whose son, Steven Branch, was one of the victims. Ultimately, Lax found DNA evidence linking Hobbs’ husband Terry to the crime scene. Terry Hobbs remains free, but If this movie helps put his ass behind bars, then it will have done its job as far as I’m concerned.
