Ever wonder what made Alan Moore such a cranky, Hollywood-hating kook in the first place? Turns out it didn't come from too many viewings of The Fantastic Four or various other bastardizations of comic books. Long before Moore swore off all involvement with any movie adaptations of his work-- including the upcoming Watchmen-- he put his creation in the hands of a screenwriter, and got burned so badly he never dared do it again.
Television Without Pity's Moviefile section unearthed an interview Moore did with Comics Interview magazine, in which he talked about the faith he had in screenwriter Sam Hamm. "I have got as much confidence as it is possible to have in the people who are handling the Watchmen film. Sam Hamm is an excellent screenwriter, he's been signed to write the Watchmen film."
Hamm wrote the screenplay for the first Batman movie, so Moore's faith wasn't coming entirely out of nowhere. Still, Moviefile also included a link to the screenplay that Hamm came up with, including some choice exceprts. Rorschach was saddled with lines like "Hiya, pardner, long time no see," Adrian Veidt led a bunch of superheroes actually called The Watchmen, and the whole master plan was a plot to go back in time and kill Jon Osterman before he became Dr. Manhattan. Those of you worried about spoilers, don't worry-- this stuff is all so far removed form the comic book, and presumably Zack Snyder's movie, it's laughable.
It's worth reading the entire interview for the sad dramatic irony of it all, seeing how hopeful Moore was and how those hopes were brutally dashed. Even if Moore isn't involved this this around, the Watchmen movie that exists is, by all accounts, fairly faithful to what Moore imagined. It's just too bad he doesn't have enough faith in it to see it through.
