Watchmen

A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, the film is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion – a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers – Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity... but who is watching the Watchmen?

The mystery adventure "Watchmen" is directed by Zack Snyder ("300") from a screenplay by David Hayter and Alex Tse, Based on the award-winning Graphic Novel Illustrated by Dave Gibbons and Published by DC Comics. The film is produced by Lawrence Gordon ("Die Hard"), Lloyd Levin ("United 93") and Deborah Snyder ("300"), with Herbert W. Gains ("The Brave One") and Thomas Tull ("The Dark Knight") serving as executive producers. "Watchmen" is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures in association with Legendary Pictures.

Playing the film's core group of "masks," the masked adventurers at the center of the story, are Malin Akerman ("The Heartbreak Kid") as Laurie Juspeczyk, aka Silk Spectre 2; Billy Crudup ("The Good Shepherd") as Jon Osterman, aka Dr. Manhattan; Matthew Goode ("Match Point") as Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias; Carla Gugino ("Night at the Museum") as Sally Jupiter aka Silk Spectre; Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley ("Little Children") as Walter Kovacs, aka Rorschach; Stephen McHattie ("Shoot'em Up") as Hollis Mason, aka Nite Owl; Jeffrey Dean Morgan (TV's "Grey's Anatomy") as Edward Blake, aka the Comedian; and Patrick Wilson ("Little Children") as Dan Dreiberg, aka Nite Owl 2. Watchmen was originally published by DC Comics as a 12-comic book series between 1986 and 1987, before subsequently being collected into a trade paperback. It is the only graphic novel to win the prestigious Huge Award or to be named among Time magazine's "100 Best English Language Novels from 1923 to the Present."

Joining Snyder behind the scenes are director of photography Larry Fong ("300"), production designer Alex McDowell ("Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"), editor William Hoy ("300"), costume designer Michael Wilkinson ("300"), and visual effects supervisor John 'D.J.' DesJardin ("The Kingdom").