I don't know... Hellboy, Ghost Rider, the Shadow, Barb Wire, Tank Girl, Judge Dredd, and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen were all largely unknown to general movie audiences. Daredevil, Elektra and the Punisher aren't exactly cultural icons. But they've all had movies. Most of which sucked, and most of which failed pretty badly. EDIT: Also Blade. His movies did well, but I don't think most people had ever heard of the character before the movies came out. EDIT AGAIN: OMG, also the Crow, the Mask, Spawn... I keep thinking of more.
I grew up reading Marvel comics and even then I had no idea who Blade was. But all those characters were established in running series save for LEG. And even then LEG was based around already-created fictional characters. Sure, there were plenty of people with no experience when it came to them but there were still backstories there to be had, different interpretations and characterizations to see. Watchmen is being based on a self-contained comic that had a limited run. It's not just that Watchmen is unknown to the general public, it's that even if the general public wanted to know about it there's only one place, one creator, one run they could reference to. Really, the closest parallel out of those examples is [shudder] Barb Wire. That's the one that had a fat guy in a bulldozer shovel, right?
I don't see how it makes a difference. If people have never heard of the Watchmen, they'll go into the film with no expectations beyond those set up by the film's promotion. The same thing went for people who had never heard of Tank Girl, or Ghost Rider, or the Crow. Actually, it's far easier for an uninitiated viewer to familiarize herself with the Watchmen, because she can just go into Barnes and Noble and buy the book. It's a lot harder with an ongoing series, because it's harder to know where to start and how much to read.
Yeah. Put me in the camp of low expectations. I don't think any movie adaption could possibly match the joy of reading this story in its original comic book form, but I do think it's possible that a great movie adaption could be made. From the trailers I've seen, and from the other movies the director has made, I don't have high hopes. It looks like it has too much slick, bullet-time sequences. The costumes are too much gloss, not enough grunge. And the voices for Dr. Manhattan and Ozy are just, I don't know, young or something. I really don't like any of the casting except *maybe* Crudup, this is a movie that needs great character actors, not just actors who look good dressed up in superhero costumes, deadpanning their lines over dramatic music. Don't get me wrong, I love the new Batman movies, but Watchmen as a movie would be better served if it was made less like The Dark Knight and more like an espionage/thriller movie, like No Way Out or the Harrison Ford "Jack Ryan" flicks. Something with a more serious tone, not an "everyone is a badass" tone. As it looks, it'll be fun for those of us to watch it, but mostly on a "ooh, that looks just like the comic panel!" level. For those who've never read it, it'll probably come off as a Dark Knight with more characters and a slightly heavier storyline. Hope I'm wrong though. I'll be pleased if the actual tone of the movie is a little more hyper-realistic than what we can guess it will be from the trailers.
Anyone catch this? Now what? Delay in release? One source said Fox may get to distribute...but will WB settle for that?
Oh, there have been workings of Sandman out there for a while, but no one's been happy with any of them. Which makes sense - half of Gaiman's storyline have no center, really, and the other half don't make for good films. Season of mists is the one that comes closest, but it wouldn't make a good movie at all. While the Kindly Ones doesn't work without all the previous setups. Oh, and I completely agree - Gaiman's writing is very precocious. I enjoyed his Shakespeare Sandman stuff the least, even though that's what won him awards. However, that being said, the Sandman's death and his subsequent funeral packed more of an emotional punch than anything I've seen in comics. Its not even terribly close. Incidentally, if didn't like Gaiman's Susano-o interpretation, I hope you didn't read Carey's Lucifer.
I guess it doesn't count since it's not a comic, but Gaiman's novel CORALINE is being made into an animated feature.
Well, Stardust was already made into a movie, so hardly his first foray. I had thought Coraline was a children's book; I've never read it. Also, I'll add that while I read American Gods, I didn't find it nearly as amazing as some other people did. It dragged on a lot and seemed to be a long aside prompted by the meeting of all those gods in Season of Mists. Now that I think about it, some sort of short film about Hob's life would be pretty cool. Although, if they can extend a short story by Fitzgerald into the 2.5 hour Benjamin Button, Hollywood can (and will, sadly) do anything.
While I enjoy Gaiman, please for the love of God don't make Sandman movies. The epidemic of emo kids in America is bad enough at it is.
I've been happy with the casting so far. Apparently Jackie Earle Haley really badly wanted the part of Rorschach and killed it in his audition. The only one I thought was questionable was Malin Akerman. Freakshow's wife? Seriously??
Actually, if those movies were made, it'd probably decrease the amount of emo kids, since the movies would likely be terrible.
So FOX has said they want to halt the movies release, Warner countered by saying see you in court mother********ers.
It's meant for older kids, but it is a very fine read for adults as well. If you have read Gaiman's short stories you will be familiar with the writing style. I strongly recommend it.
I like Gaiman's comics a lot more than his prose. And, truth be told, I think his run on Sandman leads people to overrate him.
Yeah, but that movie coincided with the Cure, Sandman, all of it. Besides, I highly doubt Hollywood will make Sandman nearly as emo as they did the Crow. (Which I've never read but I agree, the move was bad.)