Watchmen Has Anime
Tales of the Black Freighter Animation Included in DVD
Watchmen director Zack Snyder announced that he would add the Tales of the Black Freighter storyline as an anime extra on the DVD. Gerard Butler will narrate.
Zach (300) Snyder's upcoming live-action movie Watchmen will have an animated component. The director announced that he will include an anime-style adapatation of the meta storyline Tales of the Black Freighter as an extra on the Watchmen DVD release.
However, the director has not ruled out putting it in the theatrical version of Watchmen, should time and budget permit. Warner Bros. is releasing the film on March 6, 2009.
Watchmen is itself an adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore. The novel was set in an alternate-universe 1985, where tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union are at a constant peak, and Richard Nixon managed to win a fifth consecutive term in office.
The story follows a costumed vigilante named Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) who investigates the murder of fellow costumed hero The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and the subsequent public humiliation of atomic-powered superhero Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup). Rorschach, along with fellow costumed adventurers Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) and Silk Spectre II (Malin Åkerman), eventually discovers a wide-ranging plot that may completely alter the course of history.
Gerard Butler Will Narrate Tales of the Black Freighter
The Tales of the Black Freighter storyline was a problem point for many people who wanted to bring Alan Moore's vision to the silver screen. As a story-within-a-story, it mirrored the emotional turmoil of several characters in the main plot and illustrated one of the graphic novel's main themes, that the ends don't justify the means. However, it was the first element to be removed from any possible film adaptation of Watchmen, and Snyder's version is no exception.
Gerard Butler, whose testosterone-heavy portrayal of King Leonidas in last year's 300 turned the line "THIS . . . IS . . . SPARTA!" into a popular catchphrase, will narrate the first-person tale. Butler has confirmed his participation to Empire magazine.
The plot follows a castaway sailor who struggles to return to his home port in order to warn his friends and family of an impending attack by the infamous Black Freighter.
Other than providing extra insight into the story of Watchmen, the Tales of the Black Freighter storyline was Moore's tribute to the infamous EC Comics horror titles of the 1950's.
Fun Fact: Previous directors attached to Watchmen have included Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, United 93), Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain) and Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits). Writer David Hayter produced a screenplay for the flick at one point, which Moore called "as close as I could imagine anyone getting to Watchmen."
However, Moore refuses to put his name to the Watchmen film, and has petitioned Snyder to give all profits from the flick to Watchmen illustrator/co-creator Dave Gibbons.
