A 20-year-old orange county man, Wyatt Barlup, wants to mobilize California locals to help him picket at FOX headquarters. He's putting out a call to war and wants to lead an army of enraged comics fans to get FOX off Warner Bros. back. Interested protestors can contact Wyatt at: [email protected] and join his campaign.
CBM: Tell us about how you became a Watchmen fan.
Wyatt: I've been reading comics for quite some time now. I probably started reading them when I was around ten, and even before then I was raised on superhero cartoons and movies. I was always a HUGE fan of batman but found myself reading a lot of spiderman and x-men as well. As I got older i looked to expand my literary reach. I began to read The Saga Of the Swamp Thing series by Alan Moore. I instantly fell in love with his writing. Craving more, (no pun intended) I went out and found a copy of the Watchmen. The Complexity of the characters and many layers to the story totally blew me away. I also love the colors and style that Dave Gibbons used to bring this alternate reality to life. I felt like i could relate to all the characters in some way. What really struck a chord with me was how even though this story was written some time ago, it is still very relevant today. Watchmen is a masterpiece and I believe, despite it's awards, greatly overlooked and under appreciated.
CBM: Why is this such a big issue for you?
Wyatt: To Be honest, I really was a huge fan of Fox prior to this offense. The reason why I am willing to go to such lengths to protect the Watchmen is because of the history behind it's hellish life in the film industry. If there is one thing that I am more passionate about than comics, it's movies. Being a film major myself and being involved with some independent film projects I take film very seriously. For the longest time I didn't believe Watchmen could ever be made into a movie. At least not a good one. I would rather have Watchmen be remembered as a great novel rather than a shitty movie. However, with movies like Hellboy, Batman Begins, Sin City, and 300 my hopes for a good Watchmen movie went up, slightly. Then back in 2005 (I think) I heard that paramount was going to release Watchmen in 2006. I was excited and nervous. I followed it's progress with a microscope, trying not to get my hopes up because I knew that Watchmen had been attempted to be made into a film before and failed horribly. I got really excited when they put up a website for it (I still have the downloadable wallpaper with the 2006 release date on it) then, one day it was gone. About a year went by until I heard any more news about a watchmen film. When I heard that the script was going to be set in present day, I was PISSED. Then I heard that Zack Snyder was up to direct it and I felt a little bit of hope. I loved what he did with 300 so I had faith that he would succeed where so many have failed. (Not just previous Watchmen attempts but also V For Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen). After reading all the production diaries, seeing all the featurettes, looking at all the production photos, and being completely blown away at seeing the trailer on the incredible Imax screen, I was set. Now it was just a countdown until what I'm sure will be the best movie ever comes out. And now Fox threatens to take all that away over some stupid legal bullshit. And they have to wait until production is finished to do it, giving all the fans hope and in an instant squashing it. I think Fox is afraid and upset because Watchmen looks like it could be the best movie in its genre and all Fox has to show is a string of shitty ass movies.
CBM: What exactly are you planning on doing?
Wyatt: If I get enough support, I would like to go picket Fox Studios and even perhaps the local Wolverine opening night. Aside form that I want to cover up all Fox movie posters with signs that read: Who Watches the Watchmen?
CBM: What would you tell the Fox execs if you could get a meeting with them?
Wyatt: They have no idea who they a f**king with. Watchmen fans are not regular comic fans. We're f**king crazy. There will be retaliations if they keep this nonsense up. Also I would say that they had there chance and blew it. Stop being assholes and give the people what the want. They have a chance to look like the good guys if they just pull out now and say sorry.
CBM: What would you tell the fans to do in order to help you with this campaign.
Wyatt: For locals I would say contact me only if you are serious about doing something. I'm not just gonna go out there with a hand full of people. We need numbers. And lets get organized and start something great. For world wide, I would say don't support fox movies, and help us out by putting up some Watchmen propaganda. Also sign the petition so we have something to show FOX executives the large number of people they are pissing off.
CBM: How do interested activists get a hold of you to join your protest?
Wyatt: Shoot me an email: [email protected]. I check it all the time. Let's get some shit started!
Disclaimer: ComicBookMovie.com does NOT condone or promote any illegal activity by protestors. Having said that, good luck and GO GET 'EM!
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