Fun fact: the 2009 film Watchmen wasn't the first attempt to bring Alan Moore's groundbreaking graphic novel to the big screen. Funner fact: Arnold Schwarzenegger was in talks to play Dr. Manhattan in what was to be the first movie adaptation. Fans of facts and, of course, Alan Moore's iconic Watchmen comic, will enjoy this history lesson from Supervoid Cinema on all the times Watchmen almost became a movie.
In their video, Supervoid Cinema takes a surprisingly comprehensive dive into the canceled Watchmen movies of the past 30+ years. Starting in 1988 with a screenplay drafted by Sam Hamm, who was co-writer on Tim Burton's Batman, the first attempt never really got off the ground. Even with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was essentially in his prime at the time, supposedly in "serious discussions" to play the immensely powerful and immensely blue Dr. Manhattan, the project remained in limbo until 1991, when Warner Bros. took control.
From here, several other directors were attached to this and other attempts to adapt the story, including the legendary Terry Gilliam (director and inquisitive bridge keeper from Monty Python and the Holy Grail) and briefly Darren Aronofsky (director of Requiem for a Dream). But all attempts were doomed to obscurity while interest in comic book movies as serious projects took a steady plunge. It wasn't until a decade later, when films like X-Men and Blade revitalized the superhero genre, that the project began to pick up steam once again.
David Hayter (writer for the first two X-Men films and voice of Solid Snake in most of the Metal Gear game series) was attached as both writer and director in the early 2000s, even going as far as to shoot some test footage for his version of the film and write a screenplay praised by Alan Moore himself. But even with all that enthusiasm and excitement from Hayter to direct this as his passion project, it still didn't get off the ground, and continued changing studios. Directing duties were eventually given to Darren Aronofsky, albeit briefly, as he was filming his ill-fated but eventual cult classic The Fountain at the time.
Soon after, following his critical and commercial success with The Bourne Supremacy, director Paul Greengrass was sought out to helm the production. During his tenure, the plan was to move the story's timeline forward, adapting it to take place in a modern-day setting. The ambitious project appeared to be all but a sure thing, but changes in management and priorities led it to be shelved once again. At this point, it was only a matter of time before executives at Warner Bros. brought on Zack Snyder, after being impressed by his work on 300, and the rest is history.
It's fascinating to think of what might have been. Aside from Schwarzenegger as Dr. Manhattan, other actors such as Daniel Craig and even Johnny Depp were considered for the roles of Rorschach and The Comedian, respectively. Plus, the modern day (for the time) setting could have been interesting, though the recent HBO Watchmen show rather brilliantly tackled that already, complete with relevant social and political themes. Still, nothing wrong with enjoying some hypothetical possibilities now and then.
Source: Supervoid Cinema/YouTube