You may remember that there has been discussions about an animated DVD feature titled Tales of the Black Freighter that was meant to accompany the theatrical release of Watchmen. Well, according to Rich Johnston at Comic Book Resources, Mike Smith and Danny DelPurgatorio have signed to direct the feature.

In the Watchmen comic book, Tales of the Black Freighter is a secondary tale that is shown through a kid reading a comic at a newsstand. The story in Tales of the Black Freighter parallels one of the plots within the main story of Watchmen.

Some time back, Zack Snyder said that he wished to get Gerard Butler involved with the Watchmen film, and since then, it was announced that Butler would be voicing the main character in Tales of the Black Freighter.

The DVD release of Tales of the Black Freighter will be timed to accompany the theatrical release of Watchmen, which is (pending the legal battle between Fox and Warner Brothers), scheduled to hit theatres March 6, 2009.