Talking 'Watchmen' with Zack Snyder

I just saw Zack Snyder and had to ask him: How can you expect comic book fans to wait until March 2009 to see "Watchmen" on the big screen?

"I don't know how to make a movie in less than five years," he said with a grin and a shrug.

The "300" director at least has a release date: "Watchmen" has been the Flying Dutchman of comic book adaptations, and directors such as Terry Gilliam and Darren Aronofsky are on the long list of filmmakers who have tried to bring the elusive property to life on film. One big challenge now for Snyder is to cram the epic tale into a film. "It's not going to be a short film, I know that."

An interesting tidbit that Snyder shared: He hopes to film the grim pirate tale that "Watchmen" uses as a recurring secondary framing device but not for the theatrical release. "I'm trying to see if we can get a budget for it and put it on the DVD. That would make this whole crazy thing even crazier."

"The Watchmen" was an edgy book, and Snyder will take it even further. "You don't see a lot of comic books where one superhero rapes another superhero. We will make a movie as hard as the graphic novel and maybe even harder."

Does Snyder think that the key "Watchmen" premise of superheroes being registered by the government and pushed out of the public eye was spoiled a bit by "The Incredibles"? "No, I think it shows how far these themes have moved to the center of pop culture."

His summary of the unique characters: "I have a Superman character who doesn't care about humanity, a Batman character that can't get it up and a bad guy who wants to save the world." Snyder said he would stay "extremely loyal" to the source material, including the big revelation at the climax regarding the true threat to Earth.

"It's like when I did [2004's] 'Dawn of the Dead.' I wasn't trying to replace the original; I love it too much. I love 'Watchmen' and I want to honor ... the book."

--Geoff Boucher