Gamertell

2007 saw one of the best comic book movies of all time released, that being Frank Millar’s 300 which would go on to gross over $450 million worldwide. 300 was only the second motion picture to be directed by Zack Snyder who, after 300 and Dawn of the Dead (Snyder’s first film), would essentially be allowed to sign his own check. That was pretty much what he did with his biggest project, the highly acclaimed-award winning comic book Watchmen, which Snyder has wanted to turn into a film for quite some time.

A full year ahead of Watchmen(s) scheduled March 6, 2009 ,release date, Snyder has revealed the official Watchmen movie website as well as a first look at five of the film’s staring heroes: The Comedian, Nite Owl, Ozymandias, Rorschach and Silk Spectre.

For those of you who don’t know anything about Watchmen and why it will be on the lips of every comic book geek come 2009, Watchmen was a 12-issue mini-series first released back in 1987 under publisher DC Comics. Written by acclaimed English born writer, Alan Moore, Watchmen turned the whole super hero concept on its head by deconstructing conventional superhero archetypes. After its release Watchmen would go on to win dozens of comic book and literary awards for both its writing and art.

There is some fear from fans as too whether or not Watchmen can actually be turned into a successful movie that doesn’t depart too much from the book’s original themes. A number of Alan Moore books have already been adapted for film including From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta, none of which ever got the support from Alan Moore or most of his fans (although From Hell is a very good movie).

With Zack Snyder already proving he has what it takes to stay faithful to his comic book source material, but still adding enough new content to make it relevant to a modern audience, there is a lot of hope that Watchmen will be a comic film to remember come March 2009.

For your oogling pleasure, here are the character images from the Watchmen web site (in order from top to bottom: Comdian, Nite Owl, Ozymandis, Rorschach and Silk Spectre).

Site [Watchmen]