Rare Test Footage Surfaces From Un-Made Watchmen Movie From 2003

A Game of Thrones favourite as Rorschach? The Punisher as Night Owl?

by Andrew Pollard
Rorschach Alan Moore Watchmen
Warner Bros.

HBO’s Watchmen series may currently be winning all kinds of acclaim from critics and fans alike, and Zack Snyder’s 2009 Watchmen movie is a major favourite of many, yet all could have been oh so different for the live-action incarnation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic 1986 comic book tale.

Back before Snyder was even close to signing on to direct that aforementioned movie, David Hayter was just one of several people to be given the task of adapting Moore and Gibbons’ legendary work.

After Sam Hamm and Terry Gilliam had failed to bring the property to live-action life not long after the Watchmen graphic novel was first released, 2003 saw actor-turned-filmmaker David Hayter tasked with writing and directing a movie version of Watchmen.

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At the time, the notoriously grouchy Alan Moore himself proclaimed Hayter’s Watchmen vision as “as close as I could imagine getting to” a film incarnation of the source material. Hayter’s movie would ultimately never come to be due to the ever familiar “creative differences” – although he did get a writing credit on Snyder’s 2009 effort – but now some test footage has surfaced from the Watchmen movie David Hayter had in mind.

Shot during pre-production, here we find Game of Thrones’ Iain Glen as Night Owl and Punisher: War Zone’s Ray Stevenson as Rorschach.

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After Hayter departed Watchmen, Darren Aronofsky was at one point mooted for the director’s chair before Zack Snyder eventually (finally!) got the film made.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.