Tuesday, August 26, 2008

News - 08/26/08...

Collideascope Digital Productions to Begin Shutdown in September

Halifax-based animation studio Collideascope Digital Productions will be shutting its doors starting in September. The studio provided animation for Olliver’s Adventures, Delilah and Julius, and Bromwell High, which aired on the Teletoon Network domestically and on a variety of channels internationally. The co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Michael-Andreas Kuttner stated in a weblog post that a resurgence of Asian animation studios, an increasingly strict regulatory environment, and a project that was postponed indefinitely led to the decision to close the company doors.





Toon Tuesday : A tribute to Ollie Johnston

JHM contributor Todd James Pierce looks back on last week's event at the El Capitan theatre. Where the cream of the animation industry came together to remember this Disney Legend

Last Tuesday night, I traveled down to one of the cities I most dislike in all of Southern California: I went to Hollywood.

Good ol’ Tinsel Town, with its sidewalk hucksters wearing eBay costumes of Bugs Bunny and SpongeBob, with its endless food courts and faux-trendy boutiques. Hollywood, that theme park of seediness and broken dreams. There are very few events that could draw me into the chromium heart of such a city. A tribute to Ollie Johnston, the last of Walt’s Nine Old Men, was one such an event.










Photo by Todd James Pierce

The invitation-only affair was held at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre, a beautifully remodeled venue that gestures back to the golden age of animation, back when Hollywood was a cultural center for a new form of entertainment, rather than just another stop for busloads of tourists. For me, stepping into the El Capitan is similar to stepping back in history. The theater — with its modern soda fountain and parking validation booth — certainly belongs in 2008. But still, each time I’ve entered the theater, I’ve found a whiff of the late 1930s in the air: the thick theater curtains, the sloped balcony, the sound of organ music rising from the stage.

The event’s host, Leonard Maltin, took the stage promptly at 7 pm. From the start, it was clear that this evening would be different than virtually every other presentation on Disney animation I’ve ever attended. Most presentations on Disney animation are arranged in such a way that Disney animators explain the process to members of the general public so that they have a better appreciation for the process of hand-drawn animation. This event, however, was animators talking to animators. It was assumed that everyone in the audience knew the difference between a rough and clean-up drawing, between the era of ink-and-paint and the era of Xerox. Some presenters even assumed that the audience could tell the difference between a series of drawings chiseled out by Disney animator Milt Kahl and a similar series of drawings that Ollie Johnston whispered onto the page. What I mean to say is this: this evening was a wonderful opportunity for me, a writer, to understand the nuanced world of animation.

The four-hour presentation was thematically divided into the three areas of Ollie’s life: his home life, his life as an artist and animator, and his lifelong interest in steam trains.

Ollie’s two sons, Rick and Ken, told stories about their father at home and at the studio. Rick recalled that a childhood photograph of himself, holding his ear and sucking his thumb, became the inspiration for a sequence in "Robin Hood" in which Prince John adopts a similar pose. Ken related the story of accompanying Ollie to the White House in 2005, where he was the first animator to receive the National Medal of Arts. The most touching aspect of the experience, according to Ken, was not the medal, rather the moment in which his father told President Bush that he loved him.










Glen Keane recalls what it was like to work under this animation master.
Photo by Todd James Pierce


The discussion of Ollie as master animator was overseen by those artists who came to the studio in the 1970s, such as Glen Keane, John Musker, Ron Clements, John Lasseter and Brad Bird. Together these men defined not only Ollie’s philosophical understanding of craft, but also the airy and subtle grace of his rough drawings.

Lastly, Leonard Maltin introduced a half dozen men who shared Ollie’s lifelong enthusiasm for steam trains. Michael Broggie, whose father worked for Walt Disney, grew up at the studio. He explained how Ollie’s backyard locomotive helped inspire Walt to build a similar scale railroad in his own backyard. Without Ollie, Michael suggested, there might never have been a railroad in Walt’s backyard, and without that railroad, there might not have been Disneyland.

In an early version of this article, I transcribed highlights from the evening’s presentations onto the page. But I soon discovered that the article wasn’t the best way to convey the warmth, humor, and pathos of the evening. So I clicked open GarageBand and Dolby Studio and started to piece highlights together into a podcast. The result is a 25-minute highlight reel.

But you should know this: the source audio comes from a reference file. I didn’t initially plan to use the audio for a podcast. It was simply a reference file, so I wouldn’t misquote any of the presenters. I’ve done my best to enhance, smooth, and clarify the audio. But still it’s a little rough. You’ll enjoy it more if you listen to it with headphones or earbuds, rather than on speakers.

For me the Ollie Johnston tribute held a double sadness. Ollie Johnston was the last of the Walt’s Nine Old Men, those animators he most trusted at the studio. The other eight have already passed on. In fact, most all of the Disney animators from the 1930s have left us. Bill Justice (who joined Disney in 1937) might be the only one left. But the loss of Ollie was greater than that of a single man. It was the loss of a craft.

















Photo by Todd James Pierce

Though the work and teachings of Ollie Johnston will continue to inspire young animators well into the future, the world of animation has changed since Ollie retired from the studio. Ollie’s brand of character-based animation was a highly personal art. Even casual observers of animation can recognize the difference in a scene drawn by Ollie Johnston and a scene in the same movie drawn by another animator, such as Marc Davis or Ken Anderson. Because a single animator oversaw an entire scene — or often a sequence of scenes — the artist’s idiosyncratic drawing style graced each pose, each movement.

In the best animated movies, such as "Pinocchio" and "Fantasia," the animated sequences are far more a series of unified sequential drawings. They are a synthesis of character and animator, art and artist. I believe that this is why the lead animators at Disney and Warner Brothers eventually became celebrities. They weren’t simply artists contributing to a unified project; they were artists whose collective individual drawing styles created an interesting visual tension on the screen.

In the past 10 or 12 years, I’ve noticed that the nature of American animation has changed. Computer animation offers visually stunning detail and camera movement. But the process of computer-based character animation — with its unified 3D character models, virtual skeletons, and computer-assisted motion — limits the ways an individual animator can the influence an image on the screen. The new animation celebrities are not animators; they are the directors, such as Brad Bird, Andrew Stanton, and John Lasseter.










John Lasseter shares his thoughts on the impact that Ollie Johnston had on animators everywhere.
Photo by Todd James Pierce


So the passing of Ollie Johnston represents not only the loss of a great artist, teacher and animator, but also the end of an era. The tribute itself was not only a tribute to Ollie as a person, but also a tribute to a passing style of art that he helped create.

Without doubt, the evening was well worth the trip to Hollywood.





Marvel Teams with Madhouse to Bring Iconic Superheroes to Anime

The New York Times is reporting that Marvel Entertainment is teaming up with renowned Japanese animation studio Madhouse to develop four anime series that will re-vision several of Marvel's iconic superheroes for the Japanese market. The characters and back stories will be revamped to "reflect Japanese culture," and "create an entire parallel universe for Marvel," according to Marvel International president Simon Philips. The only superhero named in the article is Iron Man.





Charlotte Observer Profiles Voice Actor Kara Edwards

The Charlotte Observer has profiled voice actor Kara Edwards, who provides the voice of Goten, Videl, and Gotenks in Dragon Ball Z and Murugu in Yu Yu Hakusho. The article covers how she learned to modulate her voice because of childhood teasing over her accent and how she went from being a Tae Kwon Do teacher to a career in voice acting.





Video: 'Legion of Super Heroes' Vol. 3 DVD clips
















Legion of Super Heroes Volume 3

Warner Home Video have provided Comics2Film with a video clip promoting the new 'Legion of Super Heroes' Volume 3 DVD release, due in stores September 9th.

You can watch and download Quicktime, Real Media and Windows Media versions.

QuickTime: Hi Res | Med Res | Lo Res
Windows Media: Hi Res | Med Res | Lo Res
Real Media: Hi Res | Med Res | Lo Res

Marketing Info: Superman and the rest of the teenage gang of heroes are back in action when Warner Home Video (WHV) and the Kids’ WB! release Legion of Super Heroes: Volume 3 on DVD September 9, 2008. The DVD will include 5 exciting episodes from the first season of the smash hit, Legion of Super Heroes, which currently airs on Saturday mornings at 10:00 am and ranks among the top five shows on the Kids WB! this season.

The Legion of Super Heroes, a three-time Emmy Awards nominee features the teen Heroes Superman, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Timber Wolf, Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy and Phantom Girl as they fight crime and protect mankind from a swarm of devious villains. In Legion of Super Heroes: Volume 3, Superman’s time in the 31st century draws to a close, prompting the Legion to hold its annual tryouts for a fresh crop of heroes to replace him. The audition stars off with The Substitutes, a wacky band of rejects, and a mischievous wizard from planet Xerok who wreaks havoc in New Metropolis leaving only Phantom Girl to save the day. The adventure continues as a new member, Ferro Lad, is inducted into the Legion to help Lightning Lad defend his home from an onslaught of cosmic storms. The action-packed episodes conclude with the Legion’s biggest threat yet: The Sun-Eater, a galaxy destroying weapon of mass destruction. Watch to see which Legionnaire makes the ultimate sacrifice in a grueling battle to defend the Universe and save mankind.

"Legion of Super Heroes: Volume 3 features a group of crime-fighting heroes that are both inspiring and exciting to watch" said Amit Desai, WHV Vice President of Family, Animation & Sports Marketing. "We are thrilled to release the next five enthralling episodes in the Legion series that will surely be a hit with kids everywhere."





Orci On The "Transformers" Sequel

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" co-screenwriter Roberto Orci has talked with TFW2005 about how the film's production is going and what to expect in the sequel.

One promising remark - "The first movie is all about the mystery and reveal of the Transformers as a concept and a species, which means we had to hide them a lot in the first hour. In the second movie, now that everyone believes in the universe, we can jump right into the world of the Transformers. The first movie was meant to be somewhat of a mystery. For the sequel, we need an entirely different structure and paradigm for the movie, and we can't rely on it being the first."

There's also a more comedic bent - "We were emulating the style of movie from the old Amblin days, like Back to the Future and Gremlins. Also, comedy makes things more accessible to a larger audience." A theme of the film is the responsibilities you face when being away from home.

More set photos are up of Shia LaBeouf with his hand injury on the set. Of the injury, Orci says "Luckily nothing has to be reshot. Yes, we were on set last week to write it into the movie, not because it's absolutely necessary, but more because we want to make sure Shia's hand is protected for the remainder of the shoot." The sequel is going to be about the same time runtime and a PG-13 rating, but will have more of a global feel, will be darker, and will incorporate several things they wanted to do in the first film but dropped due to budget constraints.

Marketing will begin its big push in November and a teaser trailer will be out before year's end.





Quint's second visit to the Mouse House for BOLT! With Pics!

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here from Aint It Cool News with the second part of my continuing coverage of the production of Walt Disney Animation’s Bolt.

I hope you were able to give my introductory visit a read, the one where I shadowed John Lasseter for 2 hours as he worked with the directors and animators to fine-tune new scenes and give pointers during the script meeting for new lines, jokes and character moments.

I was able to swing up to LA just after Comic-Con and pay another visit to the Mouse House for my next visit, this time with director Byron Howard (co-director Chris Williams was laid up with the super-geek virus that he caught at Comic-Con) for a couple of hours as he looked over new or tweaked shots with all the individual animators.

My time at Disney was rescheduled, moved back a few days from when it was supposed to be. As a result it butted against a previous commitment, so the visit was cut a little short. I was supposed to be a part of the “Sweat Box” which I was told did not, in fact, involve a naked fight with Viggo Mortensen, unfortunately, but rather a creative meeting with the heads of departments on the status of Bolt.

I’m told on my next go ‘round at Disney that might be a possibility, but for this report you will read about my experiences as the individual animators brought their daily work in to be reviewed by Byron and give the overall impression of how the day to day is run on a flick like this.








Starting above and continuing through the length of this article you’ll see four pictures with this article that will detail the visual evolution of the animation from beginning (storyboard) to rough layout to rough animation to final lighting. The character in question is Rhino, the ADD hamster and Bolt’s biggest fan. Hrmm… fat with orange fur… fanboy… Nope, don’t know where I was going with that.

Anyway, I was led into the screening room where Byron Howard was, surrounded by the animation department heads, sitting next to the device that sportscasters use to mark plays and stuff on a moving screen.

Howard first explained why everybody was bearded. Apparently they were (at the time) two weeks away from finishing animation, so they were all not shaving, keeping their “play-off beards” until that was done. And then, when it comes time to shave again they were going to draw different kinds of crazy facial hair styles out of hat and force whomever draws it to shape their beards into that and wear it to work for a day.

I told them they have to include the Hitler-stache… I mean, you need to have at least one that everyone dreads as they pull it from the hat. I think they said that the Hitler was nixed. Why not call it The Chaplin? Man. Fuck you, Hitler. Ruined a perfectly good mustache for everybody else.

So, with that silliness out of the way, the ground rules were set up. In this room, if a shot is approved, everybody claps. If something falls onto the floor, everybody claps. Apparently the room has a curse on it that magnetically pulls things off of people’s laps and sends them crashing to the floor. I almost had it happen to me before I left, but thankfully my cat-like reflexes saved me from being applauded.








Before the main group of animators (about 60 people) were brought in, the heads looked over the shots of the day, which ranged from rough animation to damn near finished, from a half a second long to many seconds long. The clips were all scattershot, from all over the picture.

On the top of the shots were information… number of frames in the shot, animator’s name/initials and any extra info. On one of the shots, up top was a “Hi, Quint!” so apparently my visit wasn’t secret. So, hi back to whomever that was!

Just like on the last visit, what impressed me was the intense attention to detail. They broke down every scene into frames, saying one aspect of Bolt’s movement must have 4 frames more to look more realistic, or a few less frames, etc.

I wish I could describe whole scenes for you, but these were really just pieces. Sometimes it was Bolt scratching behind his ear for a few seconds, sometimes it was Penny in danger, kicking off some ropes…

There was one bit between Bolt and Mittens where bolt’s stomach is rumbling. Remember this is a new sensation for the dog who has been under the illusion that the TV series he’s been starring in since he was a puppy is real life. So, he’s freaking out, convinced that he’s been poisoned by the cat (all cats are evil). He pins Mittens to the ground demanding the antidote and she’s forced to try to explain hunger to the dog, trying to conceal her amusement.








One thing that did stand out to me as being really cool was watching Byron use the light pen and board to illustrate his specific thoughts. I’m fascinated by people who can draw and draw well. There were moments when Byron wanted Mittens’ head turned a little more, so he’d just freeze the image and draw the angle he’s thinking of… and skip forward a few frames on the video and sketch another outline and again and when they played it back at full force you’d see flashes of what he’s looking for over the rough animation, moving itself.

I was once against struck on how friendly and collaborative the environment was. All the animators were free to throw in their thoughts, but nobody seemed snarky. Everybody was supportive and working towards the same goal. I didn’t feel any tension… not that there’d be anything overt while a reporter was visiting, but you can feel it if it’s there.

Before I had to take off, they had just finished the dailies and asked if I wanted to see a scene from the last visit, a continuation on the progress of the LA pigeons.

You can read a full breakdown of my experiences as Chris and Byron pounded out this scene with Lasseter and the writers in my first report. The scene had progressed from storyboards to rough grayscale animation in the month since the previous visit and it was just as funny. In fact, Kraken was with me and experiencing all this for the first time and the LA pigeons had him gut-laughing. I guess there’s something about scummy Hollywood douchebags that really work onscreen.

I was able to see a few finished moments before having to run out and the animation was gorgeous, almost as shocking to the eye as going from a dark room to sunny garden.

As an example, here’s the final pic of Rhino, with full lighting and texture:








Thanks again to the folks at Disney, Andrew Runyon, the dearly departed (from Disney) Jack Pan and of course the Bolt team (including Byron, Lino and all the animators) for letting me observe them at work.

We got another visit in the works for next month, which hopefully won’t be truncated like this one was. Keep an eye peeled!





Nick, Amazon Strike DVD Deal

Nickelodeon has joined forces with CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com Inc. group of companies, to make a number of animated and live-action hits available on DVD, some for the first time ever. Starting today, fan favorites including Hey, Arnold!, Danny Phantom and Drake & Josh can be purchased on DVD via CreateSpace DVD on Demand, a service that manufactures discs as soon as customers order them on Amazon.com.

"This agreement makes Amazon.com home to the largest selection of Nickelodeon DVDs anywhere,” says Nancy Rachman, VP of Nickelodeon Home Entertainment. “These are some of the most-requested shows from both current and long-time Nick fans, and we're very excited about making these titles available on Amazon.com.”

Nickelodeon titles now available as multi-disc releases through CreateSpace DVD On Demand include selected seasons of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius (best of seasons one through four), Danny Phantom (seasons one and two), Zoey 101 (season two), Drake & Josh (best of seasons one through four), Unfabulous (seasons one and two) and Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (seasons one and two).

Hit shows from the Nick Rewind collection will also be available, including Hey, Arnold! (seasons one and two), Doug (seasons one and two) and Rocko's Modern Life (best of volumes one and two). Also available for the first time on DVD will be the hit show South of Nowhere (seasons one and two) from The N. All of these titles are multi-disc sets.

Nickelodeon says the collaboration provides the network with the opportunity to offer fans a broader selection of shows on DVD than ever before. All Nickelodeon titles manufactured on demand by CreateSpace include industry-standard Content Scramble System (CSS) copy protection. Fans can order initial offering ans pre-order upcoming releases at www.amazon.com/nickelodeon. Learn more about CreateSpace and DVD on Demand at www.createspace.com.





Bickford Screening in L.A.

Avant-garde clay animator Bruce Bickford is in Los Angeles this week and will be screening a number of his unreleased films on Tuesday, Aug. 26 at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax in Hollywood. Kicking off at 8 p.m., the screening will include some of the artist’s teenage Super 8 experiments, as well as the 45-minute opus Cas’l, which will feature a live score by The Gaslamp Killer. Bickford will also perform one of his “blues raps” with musical accompaniment by Gerry Fialka.

Bickford is best known for his collaborations with indie rocker Frank Zappa, which yielded such psychedelic ’70s productions as Dub Room Special, Baby Snakes and The Amazing Mr. Bickford. He branched out on his own in 1988 with the 28-minute psychedelic trip known as Prometheus’ Garden, and has continued to work as an independent artist. His life and work were recently explored in director Brett Ingram’s award-winning documentary Monster Road.

Prometheus’ Garden and Monster Road are both available on DVD from Bright Eye Pictures (www.brettingram.org) and retail for $22.95. Sales directly support Bickford in his struggle to continue creating films by modest means. Watch a clip form Prometheus’ Garden and the trailer for Monster Road on AniMagTV. Learn more about screenings at the Silent Movie Theater at www.silentmovietheatre.com/calendar/index.html.






Ghibli World Interviews Michel Ocelot

The GhibliWorld.com website has posted a lengthy interview with Michel Ocelot, director of Azur et Asmar and Kirikou and the Sorceress. Among other topics, Ocelot discusses the use of music in his movies and hand-drawn animation vs. CGI, as well as digging into several of his more popular films.





Kung Fu Panda DVD artwork

DVDActive has posted the DVD cover art for DreamWorks' hit animated comedy, Kung Fu Panda. Interestingly, the site also hosts cover art for a bonus DVD titled Secrets Of The Furious Five, a new animated short featuring characters from the original film. Kung Fu Panda hits shelves on November 11th.





French Wall-E DVD cover; Blu-Ray bonus features

The French Blue-ray cover art for Pixar’s Wall-E can be seen at Amazon. A slew of bonus features for the English Blu-ray release of Wall-E has also popped up online, and can be read here. Wall-E will be available for purchase on November 18th.





New "Batman: Gotham Knight"-Inspired Statue Set For April 2009 Release

A new statue based on the hit Batman: Gotham Knight direct-to-video animated feature will be released in April 2009.

Click on the image below for a closer look.













An official description was also released, as seen below.

BATMAN BLACK & WHITE STATUE: SPECIAL EDITION: BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT 2 SCULPTED BY DEREK MILLER

The highly successful "Batman Black & White" Statue line continues to expand!

This special edition of the "Batman Black & White" Statue line is based on Segment 3, titled "Field Test," from the popular direct-to-DVD animated feature Batman: Gotham Knight.

Painted in monochromatic tones, this statue is a perfect companion to the previously released, sold-out Batman Black & White Statue based on Segment 6 of the DVD!

Measuring approximately 7” high x 7” wide x 5.25” deep, the statue features a Bat-logo-shaped base and is packaged in a black-and-white box. A 2-color Certificate of Authenticity is also included. Limited Edition.

Advance-solicited; on sale April 1, 2009 for $75 US





Monkeybone executive producer Lata Ryan dies at 59

Lata Ryan, an executive producer of the partly animated 20th Century Fox feature film Monkeybone, died July 19 in Los Angeles of complications of pancreatic cancer. She was 59.

Ryan worked alongside Henry Selick, who also directed the 2001 film, starring Brendan Fraser and Bridget Fonda.

She loved dance, musical theater and movies, which helped her in one of her favorite projects, executive producing the 2005 big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Rent.

Ryan was also executive producer of such films as Grosse Point Blank, Cold Creek Manor and the 1998 movie version of The X Files.

The daughter of photographer Phil Stern, Ryan was a Los Angeles native. She began her career as an assistant producer in commercials.

Sought for movies abundant in special effects, she worked on several Steven Spielberg films as she became a production coordinator. Her films included the Star Wars epics, Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom, Back To the Future 2, Back to the Future 3, Rain Man and The Color Purple. Later, she became an executive producer.

She served as associate producer on Jurassic Park.

Lata Ryan is survived by her husband, cinematographer Bob LaBonge; a son; her father; her mother; her stepfather; and two brothers.

A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m., Sunday, September 7 at the Wadsworth Theater, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles. Donations may be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2141 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 700, El Segundo, CA 90240.





"Go, Diego, Go" wins at Latino-themed awards show

Nickelodeon's "Go, Diego, Go" won the award for Best Children's Programming at the 23rd annual Imagen Awards gala ceremony, held Thursday night at the Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

The series won out over four other nominees -- all animated: Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon), El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (Nickelodeon), Handy Manny (Disney Channel) and Maya and Miguel (PBS).

The Imagen Awards were established in 1985 to encourage and recognize the positive portrayal of Latinos in the media. The awards strive to increase Latino representation at all levels of the industry by proving recognition to emerging and established Latinos in the entertainment industry.

In the Best Actor - Television category, Wilmer Valderrama, the voice of Manny Garvia on Disney Channel's animated Handy Manny, lost to Carlos Mencia, of the live-action Mind of Mencia.

Dramatic feature film La Misma Luna won the most attention at the ceremony, receiving five awards, including best picture. Adrian Alonso and Kate del Castillo were named best actor and actress, respectively; Eungene Durbez was named best supporting actor. Ligiah Villalobos, executive producer and writer of La Misma Luna, received the Imagen Foundation's Norman Lear Writer's Award.

Actor Tony Plana received the Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award. HBO's In Treatment producer/director Rodrigo Garcia received the Creative Achievement Award; and

Among the nearly 1,000 guests at the awards were actors John Leguizamo, Edward James Olmos, Lupe Ontiveros, Eva La Rue, Cesar Millan, Leonor Varela and Dania Ramirez.

"This year, we saw a massive increase in both the quantity and quality of exceptional submissions across categories," said Helen Hernandez, founder and president of the Imagen Foundation, and creator of the Imagen Awards. "The A-list stars and luminaries this ceremony attracts each year from the world of Latino entertainment is truly reflective of the increased prevalence that we play in Hollywood, mainstream America, and throughout the world."





MSJ refused to water down 'Preacher' for HBO

Mark Steven Johnson told Comics Continuum that he walked away from the 'Preacher' series at HBO rather than water it down for the network.

Johnson, whose 'Daredevil' and 'Ghost Rider' movies polarized comic fans, had been on board the development effort as a producer and potential director.

"We were budgeting and everything and it was getting really close to going," Johnson told The Continuum. "But the new head of HBO felt it was just too dark and too violent and too controversial. Which, of course, is kind of the point!

"It was a very faithful adaptation of the first few books, nearly word for word. They offered me the chance to redevelop it but I refused. I've learned my lesson on that front and I won't do it again. So I'm afraid it's dead at HBO."


Johnson said he's sure someone will pick up the film rights, and hopes that it's envisioned as a series of movies that preserve Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's stories, but his personal involvement with it has ended.





New Watchmen Magazine Covers

Brazilian movie magazine SET has four different Watchmen covers for their September issue. You can view the covers in hi-res by clicking them below.

The Zack Snyder-directed graphic novel adaptation stars Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Stephen McHattie and Matt Frewer. Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film on March 6, 2009.

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