I've not heard of this comic book before so I can't comment. Billy Crudup is the only name I recognise as he was on the English dub for Princess Mononoke.

-- Edited by Man In Black at 18:24, 2007-07-27

Latest cast addition is Max Headroom!! - Matt Frewer himself...

Three months after Zack Snyder unveiled the main players who would help bring his vision of the epic graphic novel Watchmen to the big screen, the acclaimed director has upped his cast by one more head.

Make that a very famous, somewhat disembodied, CG-rendered head.

MTV News has learned that actor Matt Frewer best known as the stuttering, sarcastic, 80s icon Max Headroom has joined the cast of the eagerly anticipated film. The 49-year-old thesp will suit up as Moloch the Mystic, a satanic super villain and magician.

In the graphic novel, Moloch clashes with famous masks like Nite Owl, Ozymandias, and Doctor Manhattan, before giving up his life of crime sometime before the action of the novel begins. Rehabilitated, the former vice lord moves to New York City, where he lives alone until his murder in 1985. His dead body is discovered by Rorschach, who is framed for Molochs death.

The character is noted for his devilish appearance, which includes elfish, pointed ears.

Frewer is currently filming his scenes, the actors manager revealed to us. The star joins a cast that includes Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, and Carla Gugino. Frewer previously worked with Snyder on 2004s Dawn of the Dead.

Watchmen opens March 6, 2009.

Some story boards from Watchmen to prove to the fans they are sticking to the comic book....

New Watchmen image... Burn baby burn!!

There seems to be quite a buzz surrounding this. Here's a poster from the movie..



has anyone else read the comic book or novel of the Watchmen care to comment?

Cast interviews can bee seen HERE

As if the hype machine wasn't bad enough, now we have Kevin SMith teasing everyone. Im sure I will be excited by the time this rolls around, but currently I'm still a bit meh about the whole proceedings...

Intreeting little hiccup for Warners, from Variety:

A judge has denied a Warner Bros. motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox’s lawsuit over Warners’ right to make a film based on the graphic novel "Watchmen."
Ruling is potentially a huge victory for Fox, which could wind up as a profit participant in the film, and could cost Warners millions considering the film’s box office prospects. However, Fox’s legal team says it isn’t looking for monetary compensation and instead wants to prevent the big-budget film from being released altogether.

Project, which has been in development for two decades, finally began lensing in September with Zack Snyder at the helm. Warners was set to release the film, which stars Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley, on March 6 in the same slot in which "300" opened.

At the heart of Fox’s suit, filed in February, is the contention that it never ceded rights to the property. And according to the federal Judge Gary Allen Feess, Fox retained distribution rights to the graphic novel penned by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons through a 1991 claim. Furthermore, Feess appears to agree that under a 1994 turnaround deal with producer Larry Gordon, Gordon acquired an option to acquire Fox’s remaining interest in "Watchmen," which was never exercised, thereby leaving Fox with its rights under the 1994 agreement.

"It is our company’s policy not to comment on pending litigation and thus will not comment on the specifics of this case," Warners said in statement. "That said, the court’s ruling simply means that the parties will engage in discovery and proceed with the litigation. The judge did not opine at all on the merits other than to conclude that Fox satisfied the pleading requirements. We respectfully disagree with Fox’s position and do not believe they have any rights in and to this project."

The court has asked the two parties for expedited discovery; generally the discovery process can take up to two years. Because the film has already wrapped and is dated for spring 2009, the judge wants to move forward quickly.

"Warner Bros.’ production and anticipated release of ‘The Watchmen’ motion picture violates 20th Century Fox’s long-standing motion picture rights in ‘The Watchmen’ property," Fox said in a statement, though the graphic novel’s title is simply "Watchmen."

"We will be asking the court to enforce Fox’s copyright interests in ‘The Watchmen’ and enjoin the release of the Warner Bros. film and any related ‘Watchmen’ media that violate our copyright interests in that property."

Surprisingly, Fox said it would rather see the film killed instead of collecting a percentage of the box office.

"When you have copyright infringement, there are some damages you never recover," said a source close to the litigation.

Fox spent more than $1 million developing "Watchmen" but had not previously taken legal action against the project, which had been in development at Paramount several years ago.

The case resembles to some extent the copyright suit, also involving Warners, over "The Dukes of Hazzard," in which Feess also presided. The studio agreed in 2005 to pay producer Robert B. Clark at least $17.5 million for infringing on the copyright to his 1974 United Artists film "Moonrunners," which became the basis of the Warners TV skein "The Dukes of Hazzard."

Warners settled the "Hazzard" suit while faced with a preliminary injunction, issued by Feess, which would have canceled the release of the feature and seen all copies impounded by federal marshals.

Filmstalker with another update on the court case:


The studio war over Watchmen has taken another turn, with both Warner Bros and Fox submitting reports to the federal court in New York. Fox is trying to block the release of the film next year, while Warner Bros point out the fact that Fox stayed silent during the making of the film.

It seems ridiculous that with a film nearly finished this is all starting up. Surely if Fox had a major problem, they could have spoken up sooner.

As we know Zach Snyder has directed Watchmen, with a rather amazing looking trailer here. Fox have thrown a spanner in the works though, claiming that they own the rights to the material. You can read Richard's previous article for the ins and outs of why Fox still hold an interest in the film. The New York Post through, Coming Soon have the latest developments in the case.

The latest news has Fox and Warner Bros. submitting reports to the courts in New York. Fox have said they will try and block the film's release next year. They also say that when they allowed Lawrence Gordon to take the film around to other studios, he didn't keep them up to date on what was happening.

Warner Bros meanwhile say that Fox shouldn't be able to block the release. And say that considering Fox have said nothing during pre-production and filming, that they shouldn't be able to halt the release now. Not only that, but Warner Bros say producer Lawrence Gordon offered Watchmen to Fox in 2005, just before Warner Bros. took over, but that they rejected it.

And to further confuse matters, Paramount, Legendary and Universal Pictures might also be dragged into proceedings. Universal and Paramount have both tried to make Watchmen films previously, and Paramount are a partner in Snyder's version. Fox are pushing for a trial date of June next year, while Warner Bros. are looking for April. Watchmen is due to be released in May next year.

Good Lord, what a mess. Fox may well have a point, if they kept an interest in it even while it was being passed round other studios. But their timing seems ridiculous. Why not stop it before filming starts, why wait until now. Maybe they weren't expecting a great film to be made out of it. And although we've only seen a trailer so far, they might know something we don't. Let's hope it gets sorted soon, and that the release isn't affected.