We’ve heard phrases like “the most celebrated graphic novel ever” used to describe the original material used to adapt “Watchmen.” As a filmmaker does this put added pressure on you to deliver what the most avid fans are anticipating?
I guess so, but I’m kind of an avid fan myself. I tend to be pretty hard on myself. I totally get the whole “fan-mania” that surrounds the project. On one hand I’m nervous and concerned and wanting the fans of “Watchmen” to like it. On the other hand, I am also a fan and I’m harder on myself that people realize.
We’re soon going to see Marvel take a character like Wolverine from “X-Men” and make an entire movie based on him. Could something like that work for “Watchmen?”
I’m a huge fan of the Wolverine movie as a concept but I think in the case of “Watchmen” it’s a little bit like doing a movie about “Moby Dick” and then doing a prequel about why the whale is so angry. I think the book was made with a very specific story. If you expand it, there would be no material to support it. It strikes me as a difficult concept. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t be done. I don’t think I would be doing it, but that doesn’t that if it makes enough money the studios wouldn’t be interested in doing one of these movies.
“Watchmen” creator Alan Moore has always voiced that he will not support Hollywood adapting his work into films. Some people might say he is being closed-minded and other might say he’s simply worried about something that he holds so close to his heart. With that said, do you feel all artistic creations are inevitably going to be reproduce in some other form of medium? From novels to plays to paintings, it always seems like someone is trying to give past works a modern twist.
I don’t think every will necessarily be made, but I think there is a potential to address any work of fiction and to adapt it into a motion picture. It’s difficult to say whether it will work or not, but it’s certainly possible. Anything you can visualize you can make into a movie pretty much. I don’t know if that’s really such a bad thing.