Query: Watchmen explores the superhero genre through a dark satirical and dystopian lens.

Relevant passages:
Watchmen (film) <=SEP=> Watchmen is a 2009 American superhero film directed by Zack Snyder , based on the 1986 -- 87 DC Comics limited series of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons . It stars an ensemble cast of Malin Åkerman , Billy Crudup , Matthew Goode , Carla Gugino , Jackie Earle Haley , Jeffrey Dean Morgan , and Patrick Wilson . A dark satirical and dystopian take on the superhero genre , the film is set in an alternate history in the year 1985 at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union , as a group of mostly retired American superheroes investigates the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy , while their moral limitations are challenged by the complex nature of the circumstances .   From October 1987 until October 2005 , a live-action film adaptation of the Watchmen series became stranded in development hell ; producer Lawrence Gordon began developing the project at 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. , the parent company of Watchmen publisher DC Comics , with producer Joel Silver and director Terry Gilliam , with the latter eventually deeming the complex comic `` un-filmable '' . During the 2000s , Gordon and Lloyd Levin collaborated with Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures to produce a script by David Hayter ; Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were also attached to the project before it was cancelled over budget disputes ; and in October 2005 , the project returned to Warner Bros. , where Snyder was hired to direct ; Paramount remained as its international distributor whereas Warner Bros. would distribute the film in the United States . However , Fox sued Warner Bros. for copyright violation arising from Gordon 's failure to pay a buy-out in 1991 , which enabled him to develop the film at the other studios . Fox and Warner Bros. settled this before the film 's release , with Fox receiving a portion of the gross . Principal photography began in Vancouver , September 2007 . As with his previous film 300 , Snyder closely modelled his storyboards on the comic , but chose not to shoot all of Watchmen using green screens and opted for real sets instead .   Following its world premiere at Odeon Leicester Square on February 23 , 2009 , the film was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on March 6 , 2009 , and grossed $ 55 million on its opening weekend and over $ 185 million at the worldwide box office . The film 's reception has been very polarized , with many critics voicing strong negative views and vice versa . A DVD based on elements of the Watchmen universe was released , including an animated adaptation of the comic Tales of the Black Freighter within the story starring Gerard Butler , and the fictional biography Under the Hood , detailing the older generation of superheroes from the film 's back-story . A director 's cut with 24 minutes of additional footage was released in July 2009 . The `` Ultimate Cut '' edition incorporated the animated comic Tales of the Black Freighter into the narrative as it was in the original graphic novel , lengthening the runtime to 3 hours and 35 minutes , and was released on November 3 , 2009 .