Hey, I don't know if you've heard, but rumor is they're making a movie out of "Watchmen."

And, yes, maybe we've been a wee bit on the exuberant side here at HitFix the last few weeks, but it's one of those moments where I honestly can't believe something exists, and that it's as good as it is.  So you'll have to pardon the enthusiasm, and hopefully you'll enjoy the video interviews I recorded last week at the Beverly Hilton hotel as much as I enjoyed doing them.

They had the entire top floor of the Beverly Hilton transformed for the "Watchmen" press day.  I spent time watching long excerpts from "Tales Of The Black Freighter" and playing the video game while I waited between interviews, and they had most of the costumes from the film set up under glass.  What a weird atmosphere, all things considered, and it just made it stranger to walk into the various rooms and sit down opposite the flesh-and-blood representations of these iconic characters.

[more after the jump]

Let's start things off with two of the most extreme characters in the film, Rorschach and The Comedian.

 

 

Next up, we've got Billy Crudup and Matthew Goode, discussing their roles as Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias.

 

 

I'm scheduled to talk to Zack Snyder again on Tuesday, and in more depth, but we at least kicked off our conversations about putting together this ambitious movie with this exchange.

 

 

Patrick Wilson couldn't be more different from Dan Drieberg in person if he tried, and we talked about playing the character.

 

 

There are days my job is far more enjoyable than anything you get paid for should be, and one of those days involved sitting in a room with Malin Akerman and Carla Gugino.  Grrrrrrowr.

 

 

Without Dave Gibbons, there would be no "Watchmen," and if you'd told me 20 years ago that I'd be sitting opposite him discussing a film version of the book, I would have laughed in your face.  Well, 18-year-old-me, prepare to have your mind blown.

 

 

Special thinks to Warner Bros. for putting this together.