The writer of popular the comic book series Watchmen and V for Vendetta has been campaigning for fans to boycott the new Hercules movie starring Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson.
The new movie, which is directed by Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand), is based on the comic book "Hercules: The Thracian Wars."
V for Vendetta and The Watchmen writer Alan Moore has been calling for a boycott of the movie. Moore has been airing his concern about the movie and its faithfulness to the original story found in the comic book.
Hercules: The Thracian Wars is a production by Paramount and MGM, and it was adapted from the series of the same name from Radical Comics. The series is written by Steve Moore (no relation to the V for Vendetta writer), with art illustration by Admira Wijaya.
Moore has so far been contesting that Steve Moore had been treated poorly by Radical Comics, stating that the writer had "quite a few problems with Radical Comics in producing the comic book and there were compromises that he had been assured that he would not have to make which he had, in fact, been told to make." One of these compromises is that the Hercules writer would not be getting any money from the movie, with "the only consolation that his name wouldn't be going on it."
But when Steve Moore passed away earlier in the year, his name began to appear in promotional materials for the movie. In an interview, Alan Moore has stated that this was an attempt to take advantage of the interest in the writer's work that would have been sparked by his passing away.
"Now I'd have to look at my thesaurus and see if there are any words other than "vile" which I could use for that," Moore said in the interview, "but even in the low estimation in which I hold the greater part of the comic industry, that is a new low."
Alan Moore himself is also known for removing his own name from the movie version of his work V For Vendetta and From Hell, after several clashes with the publisher. He also has had his name taken off the Marvel reprints of another one of his famous creations, Miracleman.
"I would also ask that anybody out there who gives a damn about Steve Moore or his legacy not go to see this wretched film," the comic-book writer said. "It is the last thing that Steve would've wanted. And I cannot un-recommend it too highly, or anybody involved in it.