Watchmen's Black Freighter Confirmed

It’s been rumored for a while now, but Gerard Butler has confirmed to Empire that he will be lending his vocal talents to the animated Tales Of The Black Freighter short that Zack Snyder is planning as a companion piece to Watchmen.

The Scottish actor had been linked with a role in Watchmen for a long time, but when nothing materialized, it seemed likely that he wouldn’t be linking up with his 300 director on next year’s eagerly-awaited blockbuster.

But, when Snyder hatched plans to film the Tales Of The Black Freighter comic-within-a-comic that tells the tale of a castaway’s mental and physical deterioration and damnation as he tries to intercept a ghost freighter headed for his hometown, and include it on the Watchmen DVD, Butler’s name surfaced once more.

And, speaking to Empire just the other day, he told us that he had committed to the project.

Its a greenlight for Tales of the Black Freighter

The story within a story plot line gets a little deeper with the greenlighting of a rather unique tie-in to the Watchmen Move. Director Zack Snyder pleased the Warner Bros brass with what they’ve seen of the movie so much that they’ve given a budget for the director to shoot the special ‘Tales of the Black Freighter’ for the disc.

"Tales of the Black Freighter’’ is a comic book within the Watchmen universe, that one of the characters read while the events of the graphic novel unfold. The comic is read by a teenage boy while he sits beside a newsstand, whose proprietor, contemplates the latest headlines and discusses them with his customers.

The "Black Freighter" storyline is in interesting concept piece that could be a great asset to the Watchmen universe.

• Its a greenlight for Tales of the Black Freighter>