Wizard Universe scored a great interview with 300 director Zack Snyder, who spoke about the success of that film ... and the challenges which lie ahead for his next project, Watchmen. Here is a snippet of the conversation:
After the studio pretty much gave you free reign on 300, do you expect much of their involvement on Watchmen? It seems like all eyes are going be on you now as the new "it" guy.
In some ways I had a free hand with 300. They didn't really mess with me, but they just didn't give me any money. It's the same thing with Watchmen. I think in the end they'll let me do what I want, but what it's going to come down to how much they'll spend. People think, "Oh, they're just going to let him do whatever he wants." Look, 300 is going to make almost $400 million worldwide and who knows where it'll end up? It hasn't even opened in Japan yet, and there is a chance the Japanese will like the movie. I don't know. I feel the DVD will be successful, too because 300 is a movie people will see repeatedly, and to me that translates into people buying the disc rather than renting it. Maybe I'm crazy though, but I think that's the type of potential it has. Who knows though?
It seems like the success of 300 would lead everyone to believe that a Watchmen movie can work...
My point is when it comes to Watchmen and how much money we're going to get, you have to ask what the appetite is for an R-rated movie as far as the budget goes. With Watchmen, from a marketing standpoint and as a filmmaker-the movie and the marketing are the same thing to me-I think, "Okay, what shots are going to be in the trailer? What images can tell people to come to see the movie?" If you don't look at your movie that way, you're naive to the process. Unless you don't care at all about success and you just say, "You know what? I'm making an art film. If no one goes and sees it then f--- them! I don't care." On the other hand, if you ever want to make another movie, then you're in trouble if you don't look at it from the standpoint of, "What are the images I need here?" Dr. Manhattan walking through Vietnam 200 feet tall, the Comedian riding with the 50-caliber rifle and shooting at the Viet Cong and burning out the village...
EXCLUSIVE: Tyler Bates on Scoring 300 Thursday, February 8th, 2007 - The composer also discusses his upcoming work on such films as Halloween, Day Of the Dead and Resident Evil: Extinction.
Zack Snyder Unveils New Watchmen Photo Wednesday, February 20th, 2008 - Director Zack Snyder has just posted a blog about the end of filming screen adaptation of the graphic novel.
Herb Gains Talks About Wrapping Watchmen Monday, February 18th, 2008 - Executive producer Herb Gains has updated the official website with details about the action feature.
Top Stories
5 Comments
