Ahoy, squirts! Quint here from Comic-Con.

This morning’s big Warner Bros panel just ended. I took lots of notes, but honestly, there is very little news to report.

WATCHMEN… Zack Snyder ended the panel and he did bring two of his cast out, but not before saying that "the press" has scooped him. He had planned to use Comic-Con to announce the full cast, but then it leaked.

So, officially confirmed:

Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach
Patrick Wilson as Dan/Owl
Billy Crudup as Dr. Manahttan
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian
Stephen McHattie as Hollis
Malin Akerman as Laurie

No mention of the previously mentioned Matthew Goode as Veidt.

So, bullet-hits from the panel:

-Sets are being built in Vancouver right now, including a New York City backlot. Not going to be 300 style, very little digital work except on Mars and in Antarctica.

-Think more SE7EN than SIN CITY in terms of production design.

-Warner Bros is behind an R-rated film.

-It is period. 1985. There was talk of updating it, but Snyder said it never felt right making it about the War On Terror instead of the Cold War, so he insisted it be set in 1985. Warners agreed.

-While it's not a hard rule, he is going to be using the original comic as storyboards. He'll use them to set the framing for most of the movie.

-The casting was not an exercise in marketing, big names avoided.

-Alan Moore is not involved. He asked for his name to be taken off the project way back when it was first being developed and Snyder is honoring that... but he does hope that this will be the first film made from one of his properties that Moore will eventually think "wasn't fucked up too badly."

-Release date is 03-06-09.

-David Gibbons has gotten behind the movie and has frequently given his thoughts on the script and art.

In fact, he did up a Comic-Con exclusive WATCHMEN poster... sorry it's blurry. Will try to get a higher res shot before I sleep.

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com