"Watchmen" powering up with castings
By Borys Kit
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Watchmen," the long-gestating big-screen adaptation of the DC Comics limited series, has finally found its superheroes.
Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman have been cast in the Warner Bros. movie. Shooting is set to start in the fall in Vancouver, with director Zack Snyder employing many of the techniques he used for his box office success "300."
Set in an alternate America, "Watchmen" follows costumed hero Rorschach, who is living a vigilante lifestyle because most masked heroes have retired or been outlawed. While investigating a murder, Rorschach learns that a former masked-hero colleague has been killed, prompting him to begin investigating a possible conspiracy.
Haley -- Oscar-nominated this year for "Little Children" --will play Walter Kovacs, a.k.a. Rorschach, who ignores the ban on costumed vigilantes.
Crudup ("Almost Famous") will play Dr. Manhattan, a superpowered being with godlike powers and temperament.
Akerman ("Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle") will play Laurie Juspeczyk/the Silk Spectre, who is involved with Dr. Manhattan -- but that relationship begins to fall apart as he becomes more disconnected from humanity.
Goode ("Match Point") will play Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias, a costume adventurer who retired voluntarily, disclosed his identity and built a large fortune. He hatches a plot to avert a global catastrophe he believes will be caused by Dr. Manhattan.
Wilson ("Little Children") will play the Nite-Owl, a crime-figher who uses technical wizardry and has an owl-shaped flying vehicle.
Morgan ("Grey's Anatomy") will play the Comedian, a cigar-chomping, gun-toting vigilante-turned-paramilitary agent.
"Watchmen," created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, is one of the most critically acclaimed series in the genre. The comic is credited with redefining the superhero genre and often is referred to as the "War and Peace" of comic books. It is a crime-conspiracy story that provided the first realistic look at the behind-the-heroics lives of superhero archetypes. "Watchmen" appeared as the only graphic novel on Time magazine's list of the 100 best novels since 1923.
A feature adaptation was in preproduction at Paramount with director Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Ultimatum") at the helm. Casting was under way when the studio pulled the plug in June 2005 and let go of the project.
Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves and Jude Law were interested in the Snyder incarnation, though they balked when it became clear that the studio was holding the line on the budget.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
