In October 2005, Gordon and Levin met with Warner Bros. once again to develop the project. Tim Burton at one point expressed interest in directing the film, but ultimately turned it down. Impressed with Zack Snyder's work on "300", Warner Bros. approached him to direct an adaptation of "Watchmen". Screenwriter Alex Tse was hired to rewrite Hayter's script, and while he drew from his favorite elements of Hayter's script, he also returned the story to the original Cold War setting of the "Watchmen" comic, in contrast to Hayter's script, which took place in modern times. Similar to his approach to "300", Snyder used the comic book as a storyboard. Following negotiations, Paramount, which had already spent $7 million in their failed project, earned the rights for international distribution of "Watchmen" and 25% of the film's ownership.