Listen: 'Watchmen' Screenwriter Compares Fox to Satan
Filed under: Action, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and Clips
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We've totally stumbled upon the first (or second) big trend of 2009, and it has to do with listening to uncomfortable movie-related audio files. While no one secretly recorded Watchmen screenwriter David Hayter (X-Men, X-Men 2) as he shouted foul-mouthed obscenities toward 20th Century Fox executives, the dude had no problem opening up during the Watchmen press day in Los Angeles yesterday when asked about his thoughts on the whole Warner Bros./20th Century Fox feud. A couple of quotes:
"I had worked for 20th Century Fox before, and I was fully under the belief that they had the potential to shut down the movie and remake it themselves out of pure spite and meanness. They're a rough group of people ... and somewhat ethically challenged."
"... My experience told me that they could shut down this movie, and lock it away in Rupert's vault ... and make it the most unseen desired cult movie of all time ... but I was extremely concerned. Many producer friends of mine said the same thing as Alex - that they're just going for money or whatever -- but I was like, 'Yeah, okay, but there's something beyond money going on at that studio and it has to do with ... Satan." [Listen to the complete audio over at Hollywood Outbreak]
So ... we should assume this Hayter won't be penning any future X-Men movies for Fox then? Whaddya think? In other Watchmen news, Collider confirmed that the Watchmen DVD will have a Director's Cut that's 3 hours and 10 minutes, and another cut with Tales of the Black Freighter mixed in which will run at 3 hours and 25 minutes. FINALLY ... check out four Watchmen clips after the jump ...
Watchmen Clips
A Good Friend
Attention Citizens
Watchmen First Meeting
Rooftop Rescue
'Ridgemont High' Inspirations Are Now Protective Parents
You Say 'Twilight,' Taylor Swift Says 'Firelight'
Robert Pattinson Talks 'Breaking Dawn' & 'Unbound Captives'
Gwyneth Paltrow Joins Nicole Kidman in 'The Danish Girl'
Discuss: The Movies That Haunt You
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-19-2009 @ 11:15AM
Kurt Munro said...
Good god... those clips look horrific.
This movie's going to be a mess.
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2-19-2009 @ 1:24PM
TrueTruthiness said...
Agreed. They're trying to add tension with special effects like slow motion and all it does is make it look sloppy (and quite cheesy). Whatever happened to the good ol' fashioned quick camera cuts?
2-19-2009 @ 2:29PM
Kevin said...
Why does it have to be super slow mo or quick camera cuts? Give me a damn movie that takes the time to get things right in real time. Thats what made the Matrix fight sequences so amazing; they actually practiced the shots and spent so much time filming them that you didn't need any camera tricks to make them look awesome. There are 2 action clips here and both of them show people jumping from that blimp/jet thing in super slow mo and landing the same way, then staring slowly into the camera. Umm, I think I'll pass.
2-19-2009 @ 11:26AM
Cyhort said...
So......Fox is Satan because he felt like they might shut the movie down? Or is he trying to say that wanting to turn a profit is evil? Honestly to me he sounds like a film student on YouTube smoking pot and ranting about precieved evils under a poster of Che Guevera.
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2-19-2009 @ 12:37PM
pAT said...
Nothing wrong with turning an HONEST profit. FOX waited until the entire Watchmen movie was done and in the can before they decided to profit from someone else's efforts on a project that they openly derided and concluded wasn't worth THEIR time or effort.
FOX had every opportunity to make their own Watchmen movie and make an honest profit from it. As it is, they exercised their obscure legal claim to the film only after another studio's money had been used to make it. How would you like to build a house with your own hands and then have someone come along and inform you that it actually belongs to them, now that it's finished?
Hayter's saying that FOX potentially could have kept the Warner Bros.-produced film from ever being released. As a fan, I think that would have been a pretty evil move. But, then, they wouldn't have been able to get their free money out of Warner Brothers' investment. God bless entertainment law!
2-19-2009 @ 5:50PM
ML said...
As pAT said, it's the threat to vault it entirely a la The Manchurian Candidate (that was tangled over rights for years). The project was booted around Hollywood for years while Fox sat on the quitclaim like a dragon sitting on its hoard, just hoping no one would notice. Unfortunately, WB didn't complete its due diligence ... let's hope it's learned its lesson! ... But I just hope that Fox remembers that no one's going to cut them a break in the near (or probably distant) future. What goes around comes around, friend.
2-19-2009 @ 11:35AM
Peter Hall said...
And then Fox bought the rights to Metal Gear Solid to spite David Hayter.
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2-20-2009 @ 1:38AM
Tyler said...
"Director's Cut that's 3 hours and 10 minutes"
i wonder if there will be some more slow motion, maybe when Nite Owl and Rorschach shake hands... the watchmen stills look awesome, the watchmen clips look horrible, there's absolutely no tense in these scenes. Bringing the brilliant graphic novel to life isn't building an atmosphere
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2-19-2009 @ 2:36PM
Eric said...
I have to confess, I'm baffled as to why so many people think the movie looks bad. Snyder's track record is short but sweet: he understands how to create excitement and drama and he has a great sense of the visual. The casting seems more or less correct and the effects are top-notch.
I never thought a Watchmen movie would get made, but now that it has, based on the clips and commercials I don't see how it could have been much better. I'll be in line opening day.
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2-19-2009 @ 3:33PM
stalinsays said...
I'm not a hater, or a hayter, just have concerns. The bombastic, sexy babes and explosions first take of the trailers suggests an inappropriate tone for the movie. The Watchmen is a nuanced detective drama, it is loaded with symbolism, not high octane set pieces. My fear is that they overdo parts like the jailbreak and Rorschach's arrest because of the action, and then skip on the prolonged, but more meaningful bridging character sections.
If I had to pick a character that exemplifies my fears, it'd be Nite Owl. In the trailers, we have a rugged, Batman'esque comic hero. Teen demographic pleasing stuff. In the comic we had an overweight, over the hill adult, with adult issues. I'm not saying it's impossible to repackage the character concept, but I see the choices made as suggesting a direction wholly incongruous with the source material.
I'm gonna hope it's the marketing, and not the movie's core. Otherwise... uh oh. Most hyped becomes most disappointing.
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2-20-2009 @ 3:25PM
APTrapani said...
I might be one of the very few here who is taking the existence of these clips with a grain of salt. It most likely is the marketing and the hype we see here. How could they possibly go over the events of the comic with exaggerated slow-mo everywhere? It's impossible. Not to mention, early reviews have been nothing but positive so far. They are showing these action packed clips for the purpose of increasing hype from the audience that has not read the comic or is not currently planning to go see it. Snyder has proven himself to be above par and here's hoping he becomes the next excellent genre filmmaker.
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2-21-2009 @ 12:33AM
lmno47 said...
boy o boy are u people morons...........this will be the one the greatest comic book/graphic novel adaptations ever made.........and what is so horrific about these film clips??!!.......their clips of teasing not really showing much but giving a glimpse of what to expect, zach is just trying to introduce the movie a bit to people who have no idea what to expect......did you all forget this has a hard R rating, so nothing will be held back......what other "superhero movie" has that, and lets also not forget that snyder did 300 and dawn of the dead(remake)(which were both phenomenal,amazing)YOU'Z WILL BE EATIN' UR WORDS AFTER YOU SEE THE FINAL PRODUCT!!!
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2-21-2009 @ 12:34AM
lmno47 said...
OH YEAH AND TO THE FIRST TWO POSTS ONCE AGAIN.....U IDIOTS TALK ABOUT HOW THE SLOW MOTION IN THE CLIPS GIVE IT NO JUSTICE!!!???THATS THE SAME SLOW MOTION EFFECT SNYDER USED IN 300 WHICH MADE THAT MOVIE FLAWLESS AND ITS GONNA DO THE SAME FOR THIS MOVIE....."WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GOOD OLD FASHIONED QUICK SHOT" ARE YOU RETARDED???U PEOPLE HAVE NO CLUE WHATS GOING ON WITH THIS MOVIE
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2-21-2009 @ 9:03PM
Fox2739 said...
Some of the clips look ok to me but some need work. The slow motion might do good cuz it did good in 300. Love the book we will just have to wait and see how the movie turns out.
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