Watchmen Extra Tales

"Watchmen" is now coming out within the timeframe of a month, so here is some news relating to extra tales based from stories straight from the graphic novel.

" Tales of the Black Freighter, the story-within-the-story in the acclaimed Watchmen features the voices of Gerard Butler (300) and Jared Harris (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and is directed by Daniel DelPurgatorio and Mike Smith and written by Alex Tse (Watchmen) and Zack Snyder. Tales of the Black Freighter is produced by Brian McNulty and Karen Mayeda-Vranek.

Tales of the Black Freighter brings to strikingly animated life the graphic novel’s richly layered story-within-a-story. Within the graphic novel, Tales of the Black Freighter, appears as a comic book read by a young man in New York City while the city is being destroyed. This daring pirate saga chronicles a sailor’s journey home from being marooned. During his journey, the young seaman is “forced by the urgency of his mission to shed one inhibition after another” and experience horrible events along the way. The turbulent events the sailor endures seem to mirror those in the Watchmen’s world."

Included on the "Tales of the Black Freighter" DVD is Hollis Mason’s autobiography of crimefighting days as Nite Owl I, Under The Hood. Those who’ve read Watchmen already know that excerpts from Under The Hood were included at the end of each chapter of the story, helping to expand the reader’s understanding of the world that ushered in (and ultimately ushered out) the era of masked heroes.

" Hollis Mason’s tell-all autobiography, Under the Hood, chronicles the events in Hollis Mason’s life that led to him to become the masked avenger Nite Owl and discusses how the Minutemen were formed. It features the original Sally Spectre, the Comedian, Moloch the Mystic, along with Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl.

Under the Hood is directed by Eric Matthies, written by Hans Rodionoff and produced by Eric Matthies and Wesley Coller. Stars Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan appear as their characters from the theatrical Watchmen film in this live-action documentary style special.

Produced in association with Legendary Pictures, [Tales of The Black Freighter & Under The Hood] are executive produced by Watchmen director Zack Snyder, Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin, Deborah Snyder, Thomas Tull and Wesley Coller.

Tales of the Black Freighter & Under the Hood arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on March 24th from Warner Home Video."

"Watchmen" itself comes out March 6, so having these tie-ins come out afterwards won't spoil anything for people who don't see the movie on the first day. The big package DVD I am waiting for is the rumored director's cut of the film, which will include "Tales of the Black Freighter" and "Under the Hood" in the theatrical release, making the already lengthy feature clock in at over four hours. Now that's a movie.

For those of you who enjoy the technical aspects of everything included on DVDs (or Blur-ray), here is the information.

Watchmen: Tales from the Black Freighter and Under the Hood will be available on standard definition disc for $27.95 SRP and Blu-ray disc for $35.99 SRP.

DVD ELEMENTS FOR STANDARD DEFINITION AND BLU-RAY

SD:
o FEATURE CONTENT:
• Tales of the Black Freighter
• Under the Hood
o ENHANCED CONTENT:
• Story with a story – Exploring the comic-within-a-comic concept in Watchmen
• Watchmen Motion Comic: Chapter 1
• A first look at DC universe’s new animated Green Lantern DVD

Blu-ray:
o FEATURE CONTENT:
• Tales of the Black Freighter
• Under the Hood
o ENHANCED CONTENT:
• Story with a story – Exploring the comic-within-a-comic concept in Watchmen
• Watchmen motion comic: Chapter 1
• A first look at DC universe’s new animated Green Lantern DVD
• BD LIVE EXCLUSIVES:
• The Why of Watchmen with Executive Producer and Director Zack Snyder
• The Two Bernies – Additional footage from the Watchmen film not seen in theaters

Standard/Blu-ray Street Date: March 24, 2009
Languages: English
Subtitles: ESDH
Feature Runtime: 62 minutes
Enhanced Content Runtime: 61 minutes
Rating:
Tales of the Black Freighter: R for violent and grisly images
Under the Hood: PG for mild thematic elements, brief violent and suggestive images, and smoking.
DLBY/SURR DLBY/DGTL [CC]

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
For those of you who have never actually read the comic, the motion comic of "Watchmen" is coming to DVD!
Previously exclusie on iTunes, the DVD (and Blu-ray) hit stores March 3, before the film comes out.



Here are the techincal parts for the motion comic DVD.

"Overseen by “Watchmen” illustrator Dave Gibbons, Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic contains all 12 chapters of “Watchmen,” the most celebrated graphic novel of all time, adding motion, voice and sound to the book’s strikingly drawn panels, spanning everything from the mysterious demise of the Comedian to the crisscrossed destinies of loosely allied superheroes to their fateful impact on the world. The 12 approximately 30-minute chapters were previously available exclusively as iTunes downloads.

Produced by Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder, Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic was colored by John Higgins and narrated by Tom Stechschulte.

The 2-disc standard and Blu-ray sets includes nearly 6 hours of content and both include Movie Cash, good for $7.50 off of a movie ticket for Watchmen beginning on March 6th. In addition, the Blu-ray disc includes a first look at the theatrical film with an action-packed scene from the movie available exclusively through Warner Bros. BD-Live™."

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic will be available in a 2-disc set for $29.98 and a Digital Copy Special Edition Blu-ray set for $34.99.
DVD ELEMENTS FOR 2-DISC SPECIAL EDITION AND BLU-RAY

2-Disc SD:
o 12 original chapters
o Enhanced Content:
• Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess

Blu-ray Disc:
o 12 original chapters
o Enhanced Content:
• Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess
• Watchmen Theatrical Video Journal with Dave Gibbons
• BD-live: Exclusive first look at the Watchmen theatrical film with a specially selected action-packed scene.

Is that enough "Watchmen" extras for you? I hope so, but be ready to hear about when the actual movie comes out on DVD, probably late in the summer.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!