Paul Greengrass spills 'Watchmen' beans

Alan Moore's brilliant graphic novel could be hitting cinema screens sooner than expected.

Mar 16 2005

Hot on the heels of 'V For Vendetta' (see story here) it looks like another of Alan Moore's works, 'Watchmen', is edging ever closer to the big screen.

Paul Greengrass, director of 'The Bourne Supremacy' and 'Bloody Sunday', is the man charged with making a movie from the 1986 graphic novel, and he recently spoke to CHUD to reveal a few titbits about the production.

It seems that pre-production has been underway for six weeks, and Greengrass is currently in the early stages of putting together cast and crew, designing sets and wardrobe and working on the film's all-important screenplay.

As he puts it, the big question the production faces at the moment is: 'How do you deliver the "Citizen Kane" of comic books to the screen?'

Speaking of the production, Greengrass says: 'I believe two things, really: I do believe, obviously because I am here, that you can make a film based on "Watchmen", that is both truthful to the novel and also works in two hours.

'The second point is that I believe in an odd kind of way that it's 20 years since "Watchmen", give or take a year or two – certainly 20 years since it was set – and I think in many ways a lot of what "Watchmen" was about is very, very relevant to today.'

As for how he plans to bring the story up to date, Greengrass says the film will continue the timeline of the book's parallel universe.

As he explains: 'One of the most exciting things that I remember distinctly when I read "Watchmen" when it came out was this idea of a world that was our world but that had taken a slightly different course.

'Nixon had served three or four terms. Woodward and Bernstein had been assassinated. G Gordon Liddy had become the trusted advisor to the president. It was a world turned on its head.

'What we have to do is imagine what would have happened to that "Watchmen" world if it had continued, rather than say, "let's start with a new paradigm."

'It's about building on what's there in the spirit of the novel. That's what we're going to try to achieve - so you feel that it's addressing our world, but you're not losing the world "Watchmen" gave us.'

Sounds intriguing. In Greengrass's hands, Moore's amazing story should be quite something, and Time Out will have news on cast and start date as and when they are announced.