Alan Moore’s feelings about his comic books being turned into movies have never been much of a secret. On one hand, you can’t blame him – the adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was pretty horrid. But the news surrounding the writer’s attempt to have his name removed even from the good adaptations, like V For Vendetta, is the stuff of legends. With Moore’s most popular and groundbreaking creation, Watchmen currently filming, has the comic book legend changed his mind?
In a word: No. Not a bit.
In fact, Moore recently confirmed with Wizard Magazine that the studio has already sent over the paperwork Moore has to sign to have his name removed from Watchmen and the money he’s entitled to sent to artist Dave Gibbons – a similar agreement to what Moore had for Constantine. Moore told Wizard, ”I got a piece of paper—they must’ve learned something from the V for Vendetta debacle. I got a piece of paper a couple of months ago saying, “I, the undersigned, hereby give you permission to take my name off of the film and to send my money to Dave Gibbons.” So I sent that back to them all signed and sealed, which means that now I don’t have to rant and spew about the film.”
So, does this mean Moore isn’t holding out much hope for Zach Snyder’s adaptation? No – actually Moore just doesn’t care. ”I’m just simply not interested in it. Dave phoned me up, and it’s always nice to talk to Dave, but he understands that I’m not really interested in “Watchmen.” So when he phoned, he asked me if I was interested in being kept up to date on it, and I was saying, “Well, it’s always nice to talk to you, but not really.” I don’t really know much about it. I believe that it’s going ahead. I won’t be watching it, obviously.”
I know Moore is a bit of an eccentric when it comes to this kind of thing, so much so that he’s even starting to shut himself off from the comic book world, reducing his output to a near-retirement level. I think it’s a shame that he’s not willing to give Snyder the benefit of the doubt that a decent Watchmen movie can be made, however. Snyder did wonders with 300, and I am definitely excited to see what he can do with Watchmen. While Alan Moore may not be watching, the rest of us will be, and, considering his base attitude on it, I’ll enjoy a little guilty pleasure knowing that part of my ticket cost isn’t lining the curmudgeon’s pocket in any way.
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this might sound crazy, but the dude just seems like he's got other things on his mind and better things to do than watch movies. he's just moved on from all that ...
Hi, long time podcast listener, first time commenter.
I actually think it´s grossly unfair to call Moore a curmudgeon just because he´s not interested in seeing his work being turned into movies. He made the damn things! If he was a "dick" he would try to stop the movies from being made. He doesn´t, since he wants his artists to get some extra pay.
And although V was an OK movie it really dumbed down its source material. It will be visually brilliant, but I can´t see them fitting Watchmen into one movie. I´ll be there opening night to find out, though.
I don't blame him. He's written some fantastic comics, only to see them turned into Hollywood trash: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, obviously researched in excrutiating detail and a labor of love, transformed into a retarded Fantastic Four; V for Vendetta, which Moore worked on for years, turned into an cheesy action-fest; and John Constantine, an anti-hero Moore claims to have met (!), played by the wooden Keanu Reeves.
What reason does he have to give Snyder the benefit of the doubt? Because Snyder did a zombie movie and a faithful film version of a pretty average action comic?
Couldnt agree more with moore. Sznyder should burn in hell for feeding off the work of OTHER GREAT people like a. romero, f. miller, and moore. Specially moore, since watchmen is, beyond a doubt, a masterpiece and a piece of true literature that doesnt deserve to be soiled with crappy movies.
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Alan Moore’s feelings about his comic books being turned into movies have never been much of a secret. On one hand, you can’t blame him – the adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was pretty horrid. But the news surrounding the writer’s attempt to have his name removed even from the good adaptations, like V For Vendetta, is the stuff of legends. With Moore’s most popular and groundbreaking creation, Watchmen currently filming, has the comic book legend changed his mind?
January 4th, 2008 at 00:37
this might sound crazy, but the dude just seems like he's got other things on his mind and better things to do than watch movies. he's just moved on from all that ...