Watchmen Director Zack Snyder Wants to Direct "The Dark Knight Returns"

Watchmen Director Zack Snyder Wants to Direct "The Dark Knight Returns"

Zack Snyder's Christmas wish is to adapt Frank Miller's comic book "The Dark Knight Returns" into a feature film.

By ComicBookMovie - Dec 26, 2008 01:12 PM EST
Filed Under: Batman

Snyder, who is helming the upcoming comic book movie Watchmen, told iFMagazine that he has asked studio Warner Bros about creating a big screen adaptation of the classic comic, which focuses on an aged Batman/Bruce Wayne who comes out of retirement to defend Gotham City for a final time.

"I said I'm interested in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns," he commented. "That's really my favourite comic book."

The director admitted that his chances of making the movie are slim as it is likely to conflict with Warner Bros's Christian Bale-led Batman series.

"The studio has this massive franchise and I don't think they'll let me make a Batman movie where he's 50 years old and Ronald Reagan is President," he said.
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rushr
rushr - 12/26/2008, 2:02 PM
NA IT WOULD CONFLICT WITH THE SERIES U KNOW. I DONT LIKE THIS IDEA AND I DONT THINK ITS GANNA HAPPEN. WELL I HOPE IT DOESNT.
ThisFan
ThisFan - 12/26/2008, 2:05 PM
i would love to see that movie but not now and iono if i want to see zack make it after what hes doing with watchmen but he was aloud to make it i would see the midnight showing
LegionarioXIX
LegionarioXIX - 12/26/2008, 2:11 PM
man..I would love to see that made into a film. maybe in a lot of years we will..
NoobMike
NoobMike - 12/26/2008, 2:23 PM
lol, Snyder dude, get a fresh script. Please please loose your addiction to using tracing paper as story boards. In order for me to value Snyder as director, I need to see him do a non-remake, non-adaptation film, or at least something that has not been done visually before, if he restrains himself from using slo-mo, so much better.

Although WB will never let this comic be made into film.

Guess Snyder has to start searching for a new movie or comic to remake, he probably wasted all that time tracing his TDKR comics.
Hyson
Hyson - 12/26/2008, 2:45 PM
Don't let Snyder touch it. He corrupts endings. Removal of the squid is like having Batman without Joker. It's that important. Do you want to see a Batman without his familiar nemeses? No. He will fail and ruin this. Do not let him near it. Let me do it. I'd do a better job.
realfirstavenger
realfirstavenger - 12/26/2008, 2:46 PM
man i dont know about anyone else but he is exactly the director i would want for that comic
the comic is brilliant and also one of my favorites
i want someone to stick to the source material, which snyder has shown he can and will (except for the giant squid fiasco), but its still relatively close outcome

but i have to agree that the Bale/Batman series would need to be dead before it will be feasable.
NoobMike
NoobMike - 12/26/2008, 3:00 PM
realfirstavenger, it will probably not happen. WB will not risk showing Superman the way he is portrayed in TDKR, it won't happen.

Although Snyder would probably say he is being "faithful" to the comic and change Superman, the whole death of Batman, and death of the Joker. Does that man know no boundaries to his cynism, he is proud of his storyboarding abilities (hide his tracing paper to see how well he does those), he lies saying Watchmen is extremely faithful to the comic (except they refer to themselves as Watchmen, and he decided to change the ending).

Anyway I do agree he does have a good eye for composition and visual FX but so far, that's just about it, or at least that's what he's shown so far with his "directing" career.
DrFever
DrFever - 12/26/2008, 3:07 PM
Let Nolan finish his storyline, then wait 10 years.
saintc
saintc - 12/26/2008, 3:56 PM
I don't know, I think it would be tight. It wouldn't be done because it would conflict with the series, but me personally, I beleive any Director should have the ability to have a go at the Knight man... Then you could compare, Nolan is cool, but I like Snyder's movie better, and etc... Idk, the more comic book movies the better. Snyder doesn't have to be original, he will never be considered a great director and I'm sure he knows that, comic adaptations is what he does, what he knows, and I'm sure what he'll continuie to do, and thank go for it. If this happens, just be prepared to see Batman throwing a batatrang in slomoooooooo! lol! They should realy be asking Snyder how does he feel about his movie being WAYYYY out of his hands now....Who watches the Watchmen...NOBODY!
Gose
Gose - 12/26/2008, 4:00 PM
Horrible, 10 yrs wait...... long wait 4 a comicbook fan
Gose
Gose - 12/26/2008, 4:05 PM
Nolan's TDK batman reminded me of "darth vader", armored suit, weird voice....... & the storyline, people near to batman dies & go bad ..... guess dent went to the dark side of the force
akthunder
akthunder - 12/26/2008, 4:09 PM
I think it would be awesome. It doesn't have to be related to the current Batman franchise. Though I know this wont happen in a million years.
TDKR11
TDKR11 - 12/26/2008, 4:53 PM
I believed Warner Bros. will make TDKR after Nolan and his crew are done with their Batman story, Because WB are going to make another Batman film after Nolan is done with his story but The Dark Knight Returns will be next inline because WB will need a new Batman story that won't be a continue to Nolan's Batman, and The Dark Knight Returns is perfect movie for a new Batman story.
Joker1zero
Joker1zero - 12/26/2008, 5:05 PM
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/superherostories/news/?a=5656

check this out, it's pretty cool
ElBeaster
ElBeaster - 12/26/2008, 5:10 PM
If they made this next, peple would confuse as a sequel. They'd be like "WTF Two-Face is dead!" I would rather see this then another of Nolan's because I don't think that he could top TDK. But I hope he makes one more and then we can see TDKR in 6 or 7 years. THAT'S TOO LONG! But I'll wait because I know that Snyder can pull it off.

The only Robin I want to see in a Batman movie is a hot teenage girl(and I can say that because I'm a teenager). And a I love seeing new versions of the Joker. I'd love to see how Snyder would make an older Joker.

This news makes me happy. Doesn't make up for the Watchmen news though.
TDKR11
TDKR11 - 12/26/2008, 5:29 PM
Hey Noob Neck I don't believe Warner Brothers will allowed to have Superman in a Dark Knight Returns movie if Warner Brothers consider doing a TDKR movie. I think the main villain will be the Mutant gang leader, I don't believe Joker will be part of the movie as well because of Heath Ledger's death, and I don't believe I'll be seeing the Joker in any Batman movie not for along time.
TDKR11
TDKR11 - 12/26/2008, 5:36 PM
neither will 2face will be in it, because of The Dark Knight, and I don't believe WB will allow him to be part of it. The Main villain to me will be the Mutant gang leader, and just him alone.
crappybumbum
crappybumbum - 12/26/2008, 5:42 PM
that;d be a good ending for the batman reboot movies...I wouldn't mind seeing it...and hell, they could change a cou[ple of things, make it present day based...but then again, I still wanna see what Nolan will do, if he'll continue the batman series or not...
Gose
Gose - 12/26/2008, 5:54 PM
Nolan's ok, started his batman begins wd Frank Miller's batman year one, now this tdk, it has more of the Brian Bolland batman....
saintc
saintc - 12/26/2008, 7:25 PM
Hey ya'll, check out my First EDITORIAL! It's very interesting...http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/PanelOfViolence/news/?a=5667
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 12/26/2008, 8:20 PM
tdkr is a masterpiece..ill wait and see his interpretation of another masterpiece before i comment either way!

well if they take superman and the joker out then its a different story isnt it..what would be the point?
TucsonRican
TucsonRican - 12/26/2008, 9:53 PM
Imagine if they ever do Kingdom Come??

That would be....epic.
ElBeaster
ElBeaster - 12/26/2008, 10:11 PM
Kingdom Come and Marvels would be awesome movies for fans, but non-fans wouldn't follow as well and i don't think they'd ever get made. Maybe someday. Hopefully.

If Zach Snyder did it then it would definitely have two face and The Joker because he's crazy obsessed with accuracy. Especially with it being his favorite comic. This would usually be a good thing, but not from what he said up top. This is supposed to be futuristic and it was at the time of its release. But he's saying that he would keep Ronald Reagan as President. Things like that are not important to the story and do not need to be kept the same. He'd need to change the president and the war. Make it seem more like the future of today.
saintc
saintc - 12/26/2008, 11:42 PM
I was just thinkin the other day, how awesome a Marvels movie would be. I'm a DC fan, but I always thought Alex Ross's Marvels would be such a deep and interesting movie! I'm glad some one agrees, Marvels was amazing. I'm writing a screnplay similar, but from a villain perspective. You're right though, Marvels wouldn't work for non fans, someone needs to write a story similar but with unknown, fresh new characters in it. Like, not comic book based, but with the same elements and themes of a hero comic, just with a deeper 1st person perspective. That's why I'm writing my screenplay like that. I think it will turn out well...
Hyson
Hyson - 12/27/2008, 2:18 AM
While I am totally opposed to him doing it, fotc, Snyder is legitimately picking out things in that he believes he is the most legit to do them. Or so he thinks. His reasoning is that he must do it before someone else does so that he can do justice to it. Justice to it like he's doing to a squidless Watchmen. How fail. Either way, I do believe that the guy thinks he is good at what he does, and that the good should do what the crappy shouldn't be allowed to do... like Uwe Boll.
NoobMike
NoobMike - 12/27/2008, 8:26 AM
ElBeaster, crazy obsessed with accuracy? like the squidless watchmen? replacing a helicopter with chainsaws? I think not.

Why do people put Snyder in a pedestal, he has done 2 movies both adaptations. I believe that the original dawn of the dead although with it's own flaws, is much much cooler. I admit he has a very different visual style, but he is definately not accurate, no matter how much he says he is.

As for TDKR it won't be made, the people in charge of the Superman franchise won't allow it, maybe it will get a script done, but after that it will be stopped. Besides what about a sequel? TDKR2 was .... not good at all.

lol, Uwe Boll, have any of you guys seen the fake Contra trailer on black21?
Shaman
Shaman - 12/27/2008, 9:21 AM
Why do we put Snyder on a pedestal??? How about cause you guys don't give us much of a choice! What we are doing is just defending him for not being an "as bad director" as what you guys make him out to be! It's not the same thing as putting him on a pedestal! You guys shit on Singer, Ratner, Miller, Snyder, Norrington, because they're in the game. You guys are just INGRATES, how about we give TDKR to Schumaker or no... better yet how bout we give it to Uwe Boll, would that strike your fancy? Nah you guys are right, let's take Snyder out back and beat the shit out of'em. Yeah... that's the ticket. Let's whip, lapidate, stab and crucify him! Funny how no one bitched at Nolan for just having Joker put on panzy war paint or having a freakin tank for a batmobile! Why? Because these things are details, the purpose they serve can still be displayed differently than what the original had. You guys put Nolan on a pedestal, you revere him to have made a great adaptation when it wasn't as good of an "adaptation" as what Tim Burton did. But they were still GREAT movies and it didn't make Nolan a bad director none the less. The squid is only a detail and it's purpose can still be met by a machine if it does the same thing. You guys are basing your complaints on something you never saw. Now because there is no squid, all of a sudden he's the worse director that ever existed. If only you had seen the movie i could understand better but this is by far the most monumental display of biasism i've ever fell upon.
saintc
saintc - 12/27/2008, 12:07 PM
U're the man Shaman, lmao! I'm on ur side with this, people gotta be so damn negative and nit picky with movies! Director is not god, and I gurantee u Snyder never gets final cut in his movies. There's so many more people behind the scenes. He puts his vision on film, and people f*ck with it, but....it still turns out decent to great. Just because it's not perfect, it sucks? Jesus, the kid is young as hell, and fresh outta film school, u can't expect Francis Ford Copolla, or Coen Bros, and even they made mistakes! I like the originl Dawn Of The Dead way better, but u know what, I also paid to see the remake in theatres, and it was awesome.... even though the zombies ran...ugh... I don't care if he changes something from an old film. Would u like for him to take the Watchmen, or TDKR and just throw it on a damn copy machine and put the pictures of the comic book on the big screen, or would u like him to set up a camera in front of a tv and film the old dawn of the dead, and play it on the big screen? Jesus... enough of the it wasn't like the book, or the old movie sh*t... I know it's remakes, but it's still his movie that HE is making, none of you are making it, HE is making it so he can do whateve he wants. It's stupid to be like, in the comic he held the sword in his right hand, not his left, omg, Snyder is a terrible director! sh*t sounds yellow short bus retarded. In my book Snyder's not great, but I damn sure have seen everyone of his movies in the theatres so far, and chances are, I will continue to see his movies in theatres, despite the lack of squid... Always remember guys, the director doesn't make the movie, he helps take the movie from paper to visual, but there is so many other people in the process. The studio owns Snyder, he don't own them... Also, would ya'll like we Boll to direct it, that would be awesome....(gunshot)
NoobMike
NoobMike - 12/27/2008, 3:31 PM
Snyder is not crazy obsessed with accuracy, if you want that, you have to get Rodriguez to direct it. The biggest problem I have with Snyder is his "I'm being completely faithful to the graphic novel" speech, we all know that it's not true.

Now I have said it many many times, I have an inkling of hope for Snyder's Watchmen, I will see it in a theater (if it ever sees light of day) and I still hope, against all info, that there will be a squid (maybe a squid looking machine? LOL) or a tight explanation surrounding the squidless ending. It's just that I find his fanbase to be extremely......fanboyish, we have seen 2 movies he has made, and to most people they really just associate him with 300, yet he's compared (and considered better) to other directors who have proven their style over and over. You say we judge the movie thinking it's crap because there is no squid, I say you judge the movie thinking it will rule for whatever reasons you have. The truth is that none of us have seen it, we are just speculating on it, and both viewpoints are biased.

I mean if it was up to me I'd rather give some comics to Nolan, Del Toro, Rodriguez, Tarantino, Burton, and many more (at least they don't care what fans think, they just do what they want to do). I prefer my directors to be mature and proven, not to start their careers with stories that I know and love, specially if they say they won't change anything and then go and change the ending. I do believe that since he does his movies, it's his vision and his abilities, but don't start with the faithfulness crap. That is the biggest problem I have with Snyder, and when I have problems with people I start venting at their shortcomings whatever they may be.

I am ashamed to say I would watch TDKR directed by Uwe Boll, I'd laugh my ass of, and would probably be the anoying movie neighbor.
Shaman
Shaman - 12/28/2008, 7:34 AM
But Noob, all most are saying is that it "looks" good from the trailer, granted some have said that it will be the best adaptation ever made and that is as biased as saying that he's a bad director. You can say that he's a big fat liar, that's true as hell but as for his directing talents, so far, nothing he has done has put him in the same pile of shit directors that Boll or Shumaker are in... yet.

Funny how most of your coments are directed to RealFirst Avenger and ElBeaster and most of my comments (aside from the pedestal) were directed to Hyson and Fotc and yet, we always wind up dealing with it between the two of us... LOL :P
saintc
saintc - 12/28/2008, 11:00 AM
Kevin Smith even stated, "Watchmen set the ba even higher than The Dark Knight and Iron Man." He seen a private screening a couple months ago, and he said it was amazing. I love Kevin Smith movies... So I trst his word...
jordomac
jordomac - 12/28/2008, 11:29 AM
Yeah I was also conflicted with what Kevin Smith said. If this movies going to be so butchered then why does Smith like it? I'm sure it will be an epic to be remembered but if it's not faithful, its just upsetting. I want to see a movie made from the book "Batman: Dead White" awesome book.
ElBeaster
ElBeaster - 12/28/2008, 11:33 AM
Ya, Kevin Smith is a huge comic book fan. I got all excited when he said it was like the faithfulness of Sin City times 100. That's probably not true, but if its half as good as he says, I'm psyched. Actually I don't care what anybody says, I AM PSYCHED!
NoobMike
NoobMike - 12/28/2008, 4:25 PM
I have stated it before!!!!!

I don't care who gave their thumbs up for the movie, I will judge it when I see it. Alan Moore could come in barging through my door, saying he repents for every bad thing he ever said about Hollywood, he could say that that Snyder kid really pulled it of, that it is the best movie ever made, that I have to see it and love it, that the machine that replaces the squid works so much better, that everyone who questioned the movie is wrong. Critics could review it as a 5 star movie and it could beat Titanic at the box office. I don't care, I really don't like to be told what I should think before I have a chance to see it (unless of course it's DB evolution, for which I have no respect or hope whatsoever), and wherever I see a media phenomenon, I always try to look at it with my own eyes, with my own opinions. The bigger the media buzz, the more wary I become.

ElBeaster, faithfulness of Sin City times 100? how does one measure faithfulness? how does one multiply faithfulness by 100? At least in Sin City, they didn't change any ending and they had 3 they could have considered unfilmable.

I don't care, I will only judge it when I see it. I do like Kevin Smith's movies, but just because I like what he does, doesn't mean I will like what he likes. I realized this a long long time ago.

And yes Shaman, you seem to be the voice of reason for one side, I like to think I'm the voice of reason for the other side, just don't get me started on DB Evolution or Cowboy Bebop (Damn you Fox!!).

I will say it again, TDKR as a movie will never happen. Or at least not in 10 years, not because of Nolan's current series, but because it is a very risky move for at least two massive franchises, it's like an AOA movie made for x-men, although cool it's extremely risky. Right now those franchises are "safe" and very few companies like to mess with their star products, specially if they consider it may not cater to the masses of moviegoers.

In the end if it happens, WB would probably make it and when it is in postproduction realize that somehow they lost the rights to the story and there would be another Snyder movie that doesn't see light of day. Stupid WB.
Shaman
Shaman - 12/29/2008, 8:52 AM
Well put noob, which pisses me off even more now that we might never have the chance to actually see it. We'll probably never know if all this debating was ever worth the while.
NoobMike
NoobMike - 12/29/2008, 1:59 PM
lol, if it doesn't get released in theaters... it will probably be bootleged on comic cons, just like that FF4 movie.

It will definitely see light of day, it will just take patience. I'm sure that someone in the editing department is ilegally copying it right now, either they'll release it on the internet, or sell it on comic cons.
IonParallax
IonParallax - 12/29/2008, 2:51 PM
This place is awesome...And yes, you 2 are always hashing it out, but for the most part, politely and within reason. As it should be. There's no swearing at each other or calling of names, just friendly banter, one pining for the left, and one for the right. AWESOMESS EMBODIED. In an frat-boy style argumentative forum. Which is why, AGAIN, I say, this place is awesome.
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