Trivia for
Watchmen (2009) More at IMDbPro »

• During early development in the early 1990s, mainly focused around the screenplay by Sam Hamm, early casting rumors included Robin Williams as Rorschach, Jamie Lee Curtis as Silk Spectre, Gary Busey as the Comedian, and both Richard Gere and Kevin Costner considered for the role of NiteOwl. The project underwent numerous rewrites under director Terry Gilliam and his collaborator Charles McKeown, but got eventually shelved by Warner Bros.
  
  
• Darren Aronofsky was going to direct the film but dropped out after scheduling conflicts with The Fountain (2006).
  
  
• In 2004, Paul Greengrass was attached as a director, a script was written and conceptual work had begun when Paramount suddenly decided to put the movie on hold for the time being. A short time after that Greengrass left the project to work on the movie United 93 (2006) instead. After being put into turnaround, the rights were reacquired by Warners in 2006. Greengrass' direction would have been a much more liberal adaptation, among other things, setting the story in the present day.
  
  
• The first official image from director Zack Snyder - a test shot of Rorshach holding The Comedian's button - was actually hidden in a trailer for Snyder's previous film, 300 (2006). It features that film's associate producer, Wesley Coller, wearing a makeshift mask in front of a composite New York backdrop, and was created as an experiment by Snyder to establish the mood and look of his proposed Watchmen project. Snyder's wife, Deborah Snyder, bet him $100 that no one would discover it, while he was convinced that someone would find it almost immediately. He won.
  
  
• Doug Hutchison had expressed interest in playing the role of Rorschach. An online campaign attracted a great deal of support for this casting choice and approaches were made to the studio by his agents in this regard, resulting in the casting director giving the actor an audition, which was put on tape for director Zack Snyder's consideration.
  
  
• Alan Moore, writer of the original comic book was asked to write a script back in the late 1980s, but declined. The studio then enlisted the aid of Sam Hamm.
  
  
• Producers Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin tried hard to get Ron Perlman green-lighted to play The Comedian.
  
  
• Sam Hamm wrote an unused screenplay.
  
  
• Terry Gilliam considered directing this film as early as 1989, but after several unsatisfactory drafts of the screenplay, decided the material unfilmable as a feature production. Gilliam had said he would consider directing it as a five hour miniseries at least.
  
  
• Both Tom Cruise and Jude Law expressed interest in the role of Ozymandias.
  
  
• Simon Pegg met with the producers to discuss the role of Rorschach when Paul Greengrass was attached to direct at Paramount, but nothing was agreed for certain before that project went into turnaround.
  
  
• Zack Snyder based his storyboards for the film on the panels of the actual graphic novel. He has stated that in order to be true to the source when adapting a graphic novel to the screen, the original visual art should be respected as much as the written portion.
  
  
• Zack Snyder personally asked Dave Gibbons, the artist who drew the original graphic novel, to design the first teaser poster for the film. Gibbons enthusiastically agreed and designed the poster to have subtle visual clues hinting at the film's plot.
  
  
• Though author Alan Moore preemptively disowns all filmed adaptations of his work, Zack Snyder has said that his ultimate hope is that someday Moore will actually see the film and feel that it is a decent representation of the original graphic novel.
  
  
• When asked in an interview with ReelzChannel.com about original 'Watchmen' writer Alan Moore's dismissal of his movie, Snyder was quoted as saying "Worst case scenario - Alan puts the movie on his DVD player on a cold Sunday in London and watches and says, 'Yeah, that doesn't suck too bad.'" When this was brought up with Moore himself in a later interview in the British Tripwire comics fanzine, the writer commented "That's the worst case scenario? I think he's underestimated what the worst case scenario would be... that's never going to happen in my DVD player in 'London' [Moore very famously lives in Northampton]. I'm never going to watch this fucking thing."
  
  
• The rights to produce this movie were acquired in a deal that originally also included adaptation rights to V for Vendetta (2005), also authored by Alan Moore. "Vendetta"-producer Joel Silver was also going to produce this one when Terry Gilliam was still attached as a director.
  
  
• Warner Bros. initially considered Darren Aronofsky to direct. Aronofsky did express interest in the project, but found the original story dated. Specifically, the director planned to update the story to the contemporary era and replace the Vietnam War references with those of Iraq and terrorism. Uncomfortable with the direction Aronofsky wanted to take, Warner Bros. hired Zack Snyder, who had just directed an adaptation of 300 (2006) to great acclaim.
  
  
• At one point John Cusack was rumored to play Nite Owl/Dan Drieberg and Sigourney Weaver was rumored to play the original Silk Spectre/Sally Jupiter.
  
  
• When Paul Greengrass was set to direct, he planned to cast Hilary Swank as Silk Spectre and Joaquin Phoenix as Nite Owl. When Greengrass left the project, Swank and Phoenix did as well.
  
  
• Nathan Fillion was considered for the roles of The Comedian and Nite Owl.
  
  
• Jessica Biel was considered for a role, but passed.
  
  
• The choral and organ music used in the first non-teaser trailer is a cue from "Prophecies" from Godfrey Reggio's film Koyaanisqatsi (1982), composed by Philip Glass. The trailer also includes a passage from "Pruit Igoe," from the same soundtrack/composer. An edited arrangement including both musical pieces also shows up in the film as the background score during the origin story of Dr. Manhattan.
  
  
• Carla Gugino and Malin Akerman play mother and daughter in this film. They have both also played love interests of Ben Stiller. Gugino played Rebecca Hutman in Night at the Museum (2006) and Akerman played Lila in The Heartbreak Kid (2007).
  
  
• Zack Snyder wanted to cast his 300 (2006) star Gerard Butler in this film and even promised him a role. When all the roles were cast and Butler didn't have one, Snyder cast him in Tales of the Black Freighter (2009) (V), which is based on the comic-within-a-comic from the Watchmen graphic novel and will be released on DVD around the time Watchmen will be released in theaters.
  
  
• The trailer features the song "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" by Smashing Pumpkins, which was originally a B-Side for the single "The End is the Beginning is the End", the theme from Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin (1997).
  
  
• Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley both starred in Little Children (2006).
  
  
• Simon Pegg turned down the role of Rorschach. When asked why he said, "I didn't want to hear people saying 'Simon Pegg IS Rorschach'."
  
  
• When casting the film, Zack Snyder presented each of the actors with a copy of the script and a copy of the graphic novel. Later, during filming, Snyder allowed the actors to carry a copy of the graphic novel on set and re-write dialog to better match that of the source material.
  
  
• When offered the role of Adrian Veidt, Matthew Goode had never read the graphic novel. He called a friend who had and asked if he should even bother to read the script. Not only did the friend say yes, he insisted that Goode immediately read the graphic novel and accept the role without question. Later, after he read both the script and the novel, Goode admitted his friend was right to make him take the role without delay.
  
  
• Michael Bay was considered to direct the movie back in 2003 but turned down the offer.
  
  
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan initially wanted to turn down the role of the Comedian after reading the first three pages of the script. He assumed that was Blake's only scene and didn't want to play a character that had so little screen time. His agent persuaded him to read the entire script and then make a decision.
  
  
• Zack Snyder deliberately cast actors younger than their on-screen characters because of the large number of flashbacks in the story. Snyder decided that make-up and special effects artists would have an easier time making the actors look older, rather than younger. Most notable is Carla Gugino who was only 37 years old at the time of production, though her character is said to be in her late 60's through most of the film. Carla Gugino playing the mother of Malin Akerman. is in real life only seven years older than Akerman. Laurie Jupiter is a young woman compared to Janey Slater, Malin Akerman is actually 2 years old than Laura Mennell.
  
  
• Thomas Jane was one of Zack Snyder's first choices to play The Comedian, but scheduling conflicts with his directorial debut Dark Country (2009) prevented him from taking the role.
  
  
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays Edward Blake, the Comedian. Blake's middle name is Morgan.
  
  
• Daniel Craig turned down the role of Rorschach.
  
  
• This movie has been in production so long (it started in 1987) that six of the seven main cast members weren't in the film industry when the movie was first attempted. Jackie Earle Haley was the only main cast member to have an acting career before the many attempts at trying to make this movie.
  
  
• Zack Snyder cast Matt Frewer after working with him on Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Stephen McHattie after working with him on 300 (2006).
  
  
• When Patrick Wilson was offered the role of Dan Dreiberg he called one of his best friends who is a huge comic book fan and asked him what he knew about the Watchmen comic. He told Patrick that if Patrick was ever to do a superhero movie that this was the one to do. Having got the part, Patrick invited his friend to visit the set when filming the prison escape scene.
  
  
• In the graphic novel, it is mentioned that Captain Metropolis and Hooded Justice were a gay couple, though this is not addressed in the movie. There are also several hints questioning the sexual orientation of Adrian Veidt and Rorschach. While Rorschach is not addressed in the movie, Adrian's sexual orientation is hinted at twice. The first time in during the opening montage when Adrian is in front of Studio 54 (a well known homosexual friendly club in the 70s) with The Village People. The second time is when Night Owl II is on Adrian's computer, a folder on the floppy disc he opens in entitled "Boys".
  
  
• Pieces of 80s pop culture shown on Adrian Veidt's bank of monitors include Apple's "1984" commercial for the Macintosh and the music video for "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer.
  
  
• There are at least three subtle references to Zack Snyder's previous film 300 (2006): One of Ozymandias' video screens features the film "The 300 Spartans". During the fight between Blake and his assailant, the number 1 falls off of his apartment number, 3001, leaving the number 300 for a split second. Finally the psychiatrist's briefcase is also briefly seen with the numbers facing the camera reading 3-0-0 (the combination dialed-in is 2-9-9).
  
  
• Three Bob Dylan songs are used in the movie. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" for the opening credits, "All Along the Watchtower" near the end, and "Desolation Row" for the closing credits. All three songs were referred to in the original graphic novel. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" is the only one where the Bob Dylan version is used as the other two are covered by Jimi Hendrix and My Chemical Romance.
  
  
• In the opening montage, Neil Armstrong says 'Good luck, Mr. Gorsky' on the moon. This is a reference to an apocryphal story in which the young Neil Armstrong is playing in his back yard and kicks a ball into the next door neighbour's garden. Upon retrieving the ball, he overhears his next door neighbour, Mrs. Gorsky through the bedroom window saying 'Oral sex?! I'll give you oral sex when that kid next door walks on the moon!' It was long rumoured that 'Good luck, Mr. Gorsky' was actually the first transmission to Earth from the moon but this has been identified as false by a variety of sources, notably Armstrong himself.
  
  
• In the scene where Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II and Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II are attacked by a group of thugs in an alleyway, one of the thugs can be seen wearing a T-shirt with the V-symbol from V for Vendetta (2005) on the front.
  
  
• "Ride of The Valkyries" plays during Dr. Manhattan's assistance in the Vietnam war. As well as being a reference to Apocalypse Now (1979), in the book, that particular piece of music is referenced in Hollis Mason's recount of a sad childhood memory in the "Under the Hood" vignette.
  
  
• Ozymandias is a Greek name for Rameses II, and the title of a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley. The inscription from a ruined statue quoted in the sonnet appears under a massive Egyptian bust in his lair.
  
  
• Rorschach's name refers to the famous Rorschach inkblot test used in psychotherapy. In the graphic novel, his back story reveals that the material from his mask was intended for a dress belonging to Kitty Genovese; an actual person whose murder in public view sparked an outcry about bystander apathy.
  
  
• Sally Jupiter's Retirement party is a recreation of the famous Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.
  
  
• In the graphic novel, after meeting with him to warn him of the "mask killer," Rorschach notes in his journal that he suspects Ozymandias of being gay and intends to look into that later. While this scene is not in the film, when Rorschach and Nite Owl II are going through the files on his computer, one folder next to the Pyramid Industries folder is labeled "BOYS." Additionally, in the title sequence, Ozymandias is shown standing in front of a group of men clearly dressed as the Village People, and when the Minutemen are in the "Last Supper" pose, Captain Metropolis and Hooded Justice are seen gazing at each other affectionately on the right side of the screen.
  
  
• Was shipped to some theaters under the codename 'Old Heroes Never Die'.
  
  
• The first trailer for the film, which premiered with The Dark Knight (2008) sparked so much interest that it sent the graphic novel back onto the bestseller list. Barnes and Noble Bookstores reported selling out of the novel nationwide.
  
  
• Premiered in more theaters (3,611) than any other R-rated movie.
  
  
• Scored the biggest debut of 2009 with a $55.7 mil weekend gross, in March of the same year, until Monsters vs Aliens (2009) opened a few weeks later.
  
  
• The pistols used by the Comedian are D&L Sports "Professional Model" .45 longslides, and are actual firearms, not prop pieces.
  
  
• One of the movies on Adrian's TV screens was Altered States (1980).
  
  
• Traditionally, CGI characters such as Doctor Manhattan would require two shoots for every scene the character appears. First, the scene would be filmed with a placeholder instead of the CGI character. Then the character's movements would be recorded on a "motion capture" stage to provide a reference in creating the CGI character. Given the amount of screen time Doctor Manhattan has, this would have been an expensive process. Instead, Billy Crudup simultaneously provided Manhattan's placeholder and motion capture on set. Crudup wore a specially-designed motion capture suit and face markers, and was constantly filmed by at least two cameras, one for all-over movement and another trained on his face to follow his expressions. This way, his on-set performance as the placeholder could be used directly in creating the CGI character. To provide the effect of Doctor Manhattan's eerie glow, Crudup's suit was studded with 2500 blue lights, so that he could act as an "exotic lighting instrument". Therefore Manhattan's glow follows his movements more closely than an on-set light could, and illuminates his surroundings in a more convincing manner than a computer effect would.
  
  
• Dozens of scenes from the movie are at attempt to precisely replicate a panel from the original comic novel. One in particular that stands out is Rorschach squatting on the windowsill about to enter The Comedian's apartment near the start of the film.
  
  
• The PC in Veidt's office is actually running an early version of the Mac OS. At the time, these versions were still in black and white, and the production team simply inverted the black and white colors to make it look different.
  
  
• During the scene when Veidt is walking to the elevators with the captains of industry, a muzak version of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears plays in the background.
  
  
• Silhouette kissing the nurse in the celebration in the streets is a reference to the famous V-J day in Times Square picture of a sailor and a nurse kissing taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt. As Silhouette and the nurse part, a sailor can be seen coming towards them.
  
  
• While writing the original graphic novel, Alan Moore was surprised to find out that his intended ending had remarkable similarity to the TV episode "The Outer Limits: The Architects of Fear (#1.3)" (1963). Near the end of the film, Sally Jupiter can be seen watching the series on TV.
  
  
• In the graphic novel, the phrase "Who Watches the Watchmen?" is never fully seen. It is always either partly blocked by a person or object or is not completely written. However, in the film, the complete phrase appears at least twice, perhaps as the result of editing errors.
  
  
• WILHELM SCREAM: Heard at the beginning of the prison riot, as one inmate is hurled over the railing by two others.
  
  
• "Who watches the watchmen?" is a quote spoken by Aristotle responding to the theory of Plato about filakes (Watchmen) who will be the ultimate authority in the city-state and be infallible. Aristotle said "Pios tha filatei tus filakes?" which means "Who watches the watchmen?" and denied that theory.
  
  
• The name of the Gunga Diner is a reference to the title of the Rudyard Kipling poem "Gunga Din!"
  
  
• The computer in Adrian Veidt's office is a black Apple Macintosh SE/30, running in inverted mode on screen. Macintoshes of the era were never officially sold in black, but a consignment is believed to have been once used by the National Security Agency.
  
  
• Moloch has a copy of Allen Ginsberg's "Howl" on his bedside table.
  
  
• On Veidt's desk a copy of Hollis Mason's fictional biography 'Under the Hood' can be seen. The book was quoted in the graphic novel and used to expose plot points that would have been otherwise left unexplored.
  
  
• The song played during the love scene between Night Owl II and Silk Spectre II is Leonard Cohen's 1984 version of Hallelujah. This song is often used in movies (by several cover artists) depicting a moment of sadness or heartbreak. In this case it is used in exactly the opposite situation. Significantly, the part used includes the last verse which is usually omitted in most cover versions, but which is fitting in the context of the scene.
  
  
• A copy of the graphic novel "Watchmen" can clearly be seen on Dan's desk in the scene where he and Laurie first make love. Malin Akerman has confirmed its presence in public comments.
  
  
• Most of the songs featured in the movie are referenced directly in the comic. The first issue was titled after a "Desolation Row" verse. "Unforgettable" and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" are used in commercials for Adrian Veidt's cologne Nostalgia. "You're My Thrill" is played by Nite Owl II while he and Silk Spectre II are flying people away from the burning building. Issue 11 got its title from a verse in "All Along The Watchtower". "Ride of the Valkyries" is mentioned by the first Nite Owl as being the saddest thing he can think of due to an incident from his childhood. Additionally, the name of "Tales of the Black Freighter" was taken from the Marc Blitzstein translation of Kurt Weill & Bertolt Brecht's "Seeräuber-Jenny" ("Pirate Jenny").
  
  
• One of the screens in Ozymandias' lair plays the opening credits of "MacGyver" (1985).
  
  
• Some of the actors chosen to be newscasters (such as Mi-Jung Lee and Lynn Collier) for bit parts in the movie are in real life newscasters in the Vancouver media.
  
  
• While Adrian (Ozymandias) is talking to the press, the twin towers can be seen outside his office window. While he is discussing the problems caused by dependence on oil, a blimp is also in the background. It seems to be closer to the windows than the towers, but the effect still makes it look like that blimp is flying towards the towers very slowly. In other scenes, the same towers and blimps can be seen, but the effect is not the same.
  
  
• Towards the end of the movie, the word Pioneer above the New Frontiersman logo has Rorschach "calling card" symbol using a backwards P in front of Pioneer.
  
  
• During the scene in which Dan and Laurie are having dinner you can hear someone in the background say "I'm glad I ordered the four-legged chicken!" In the corresponding scene in the original graphic novel, there is an image of a waiter carrying a four-legged chicken.
  
  
• Near the end of the graphic novel, a newspaper can be seen on the newsstand that has the headline, "R.R. Runs for President." The initials turn out, a few pages later, to stand for Robert Redford. (This shot is omitted in the theatrical release of the film.) The inference at first is to Ronald Reagan, until the book springs its punchline. The film simply changes the reference to Ronald Reagan, with no mention of Redford.
  
  
• Despite the fact that Doctor Manhattan describes Laurie Jupiter as a young woman compared to Janey Slater, Malin Akerman is actually 2 years older than Laura Mennell.
  
  
• In the clip from Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) seen on one of Ozymandias's TV screens, actor Martin Kove is wearing a Smilie button, which of course is an image associated with Watchmen and The Comedian in particular. However in Rambo, the Smilie is actually frowning.
  
  
• The picture of The Comedian shaking hands with President Nixon is based on the photograph of Richard Nixon shaking hands with Elvis Presley.
  
  
• Dr. Manhattan after his accident creates the perfect human form to replace his old body. To achieve Dr. Manhattan's ultra-ripped muscled look, his physique was modeled on that of the actor/model Greg Plitt.
  
  
• During the early stage of the film's development Terry Gilliam was quoted as saying that adapting the Graphic Novel would cost 1 million dollars per page before he gave up trying; this was before CGI was widely used.
  
  
• Laurie's last name, Juspeczyk, is never spoken at any point in the film. Rorschach even calls her Jupiter in one scene, despite the fact that in the graphic novel Laurie resents her mother's use of Jupiter to distance herself from her Polish roots. Her name is still written down as Juspeczyk at one point in the film.
  
  
• While the age of the Edward Blake was changed from 61 to 67 to better accommodate Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the change of Rorschach's age from 45 to 35 moves him further away from the age of Jackie Earle Haley, who was 47 at the time of the film's release. It also creates peculiarities in the Watchmen time line, such as Russia's discovery of the nuclear bomb being moved back 10 years (evident from a paper read when Kovacs is 10) and Rorschach only being 17 during the meeting of the Watchmen in 1966.
  
  
• Hilary Duff was offered the role of Silk Spectre, but turned down the part. She desired to play the role because she wanted not to be typecast as the "good girl" archetype she developed on the TV series "Lizzie McGuire" (2001).
  
  

• SPOILER: As Dr. Manhattan transports a generator to Veidt's laboratory, a large sign is visible in Karnak reading '(S)ub (Q)uantum (U)nified (I)ntrinsic Field (D)evice', the first letters forming the word SQUID when read top to bottom. At the same time, the first generator emits tentacle-like energy emanations housed in a plasma sphere, upon going off the first time and again in New York just before exploding. This is a reference to the original ending of the comic series, which centered on Veidt's creation of a squid-like creature.
  
  
• SPOILER: While Rorschach and Nite Owl are investigating Pyramid International at Veidt Interprises, we can see the Palette of Narmer, an ancient Egyptian work of art, on the mantle above Veidt's cabinets. The palette recounts the rise to power of King Narmer, who, after much violence, united the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of Egypt under one ruler. Similarly, in the film Ozymandias plots to unify the divided nations of the world against a common enemy by globally committing acts of violence in framing Dr. Manhattan.
  
  
• SPOILER: There is some similarity to the The Incredibles (2004). Clearly, the story of The Incredibles was partly inspired by the graphic novel of Watchmen. In The Incredibles, like in Watchmen, superheroes are outlawed and Mr. Incredible has to work in secret, like Rorschach. Mr. Incredible is depressed, aging and out of shape during his forced retirement, only to be filled with rejuvenating spirit once he is able to don his costume again, just like Dreiberg. In the ending, Syndrome, like Ozymandias, tries to fool the world into doing what he wanted, using a fake menace. The difference is for Syndrome, it's to make the world accept him as a hero. For Ozymandias, it's to make the world stop heading for nuclear war. The Incredibles also references Dollar Bill's death (when his cape was caught in a revolving door during a bank heist, rendering him unable to move as he was shot, shown during the opening credits) when E refuses to make Mr. Incredible's new costume with a cape, and proceeds to go into detail about how a number of superheroes died because of their capes.
  
  
• SPOILER: There is a postmodern joke towards the conclusion. In the film, Ozymandias chides Nite Owl II, saying, "Dan, I'm not a comic book villain." Whereas in the comic book he says that he is not a film villain, specifically, "Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain." Of course, it could be argued that Ozymandias is not in fact a villain at all.
  
  
• SPOILER: Doctor Manhattan likens Laurie's birth to the "thermodynamic miracle" of "turning air into gold". In the comic, Doctor Manhattan elaborates that a "thermodynamic miracle" is an event which is incredibly energetically unfavorable, such as an oxygen atom spontaneously turning into a gold atom. In quantum mechanics, although the odds are beyond astronomical, such a classically-forbidden event can still occur.
  
  
• SPOILER: In the finale, Laurie remarks that Jon (Doctor Manhattan) would say "nothing ever ends". In the comic book, the meaning of this comment is more obvious. The line is delivered by Doctor Manhattan in response to Ozymandias asking if Ozymandias' plan will turn out to be worth the sacrifice "in the end".
  
  
• SPOILER: One of the inkblots that appears during Rorschach's examination, which he perceives to be two lovers (but which he describes as "some nice flowers"), appears twice during his final confrontation with Dr. Manhattan: on his mask, and in the blood pattern on the snow.
  
  
• SPOILER: At the ending when New York is in ruins, the camera tilts downward and shows Veidts Enterprises build a New New York, we can see the Two Towers of the World Trade Center still standing tall in the background.
  
  
• SPOILER: During Dr. Manhattan's recitation about Martian non-biologic type of life, the pan over the Martian surface begins with a close up of something looking like the Cydonia Face on Mars. The Martian "Smiley Crater" is shown in the last scene.
  
  
• SPOILER: One of Ozymandias' screens show the cartoon character Marvin the Martian; Dr. Manhattan goes to Mars when leaving Earth and during his talk with Laurie he specifically points out Mars' lack of living creatures.
  
  

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