and HOLY SHIT. I'm not the kind of guy that usually reads comic books, or graphic novels, or whatever you call 'em, but a friend told me about it and wow. Had my mind completely blown apart. The only thing that sucks about it is now the movie will never be as good. And that movie looks awesome.

The movie will be AWESOME. I hope.

Yeah, but seeing that
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
They're removing the squid that creates the most amazing ending in a novel to date
*END OF SPOILERS*
I just have a feeling that will screw it all up, no matter what they replace it with.

Even if the movie doesn't turn out as good as the graphic novel, you should be glad you read the novel first. You might end up being a little more critical of the movie, but I think you will also appreciate the way they have captured the visual style of the novel so much more than if you had never read it. I did the opposite with 300 (saw the movie first, read the graphic novel second) and I really regretted it. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I didn't realize how much of it was a literal recreation of Frank Miller's artwork and I feel like I would have appreciated the initial viewing of the movie that much more if I had known that.
In regards to the squid thing, I am withholding my judgment until I actually see it. Rationally, I understand why it was removed, but emotionally I feel like they could be ripping the heart out of one of my favorite comic books. Fortunately, Zack Snyder seems to be one of the few directors that "gets it" when it comes to comic-to-movie translations, so I am hopeful that he has come up with something equally as spectacular for the movie's climax.

I don't get it. I can't see any situation where the removal of the squid would ever be "rational."
I mean, the plot the squid is the center piece of is pretty much the driving mystery of the story. If you meant it's too fantastical so they'd be forgiven for replacing it with something more "realistic" Burning of the Reichstag, I'd assumed we had already left realism at the door when we had a dude who can mentally control matter at the fundamental level and another guy who had honed his physical abilities to the point where he can catch bullets.

I agree. I guess the studio couldn't afford it?

I meant rational in the sense that, while a giant squid might play well in a comic book, the average movie audience member who hasn't read the comic might look at it and say "that was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen", so it makes some sense that they would remove it from the film.
From what I understand, the movie has not lost the story element that the squid represented, i.e. an all-encompassing threat that unites the world against a common enemy to bring about world peace, they just accomplished it in a different manner.

I love comics. And I still haven't read Watchmen. I need to do it before I watch the film. As soon as I get my first paycheck I'll be getting The Absolute Edition. It looks beautiful.

Never try to compare an adaptation to the original source material, it's bound to disappoint you. Just look at movie as thing on it own.
I had the same worries when I went to watch Wanted. The comic is imho very great. It's about a world where all superheroes are dead and the world is ruled by a secret organisation consisting only of villains.
The movie didn't have superheroes or villains and it was just about a secret brotherhood of assassins. Compared to the comic it was crap, but on its own it was a very enjoyable over the top action flick.

Not really into comics, but Watchmen was one of the few i really got into. awesome novel.
(the only other one i can think of was Dark Knight Returns/Strikes back)

That's what I've heard too, and I understand and agree with the change. Rumor has it the new ending has something to do with a giant Dr. Manhattan. But I've also heard that they made more than one ending, so who knows if that's the true ending in the finished film.

Sorry, what do you mean with more than one ending? O.o
I hope they're not trying to pull off one of those "Exclusive ending only for the DVD version" crap.
Anyway, I think that removing the squid from the ending could spell doom for the movie if done wrong. I mean, how can you pull off the "all-encompassing threat that unites the world against a common enemy " like Cogadh said without the giant squid.
I don't know though, i guess we'll have to wait for the movie to figure that out :-)

They are filming multiple endings so no one can spoil the actual ending before the movie comes out. Its actually a fairly common practice with big-budget movies like this. I am certain that the extra ending will show up as a DVD extra someday.
Speaking of DVDs, make sure you see the "Tales of the Black Freighter" DVD before seeing the movie. Since it would be virtually impossible to include the pirate comic sequences in the actual Watchmen movie, they instead created an animated DVD of it featuring the voice of Gerard Butler. The DVD is supposed to be out around the same time as the movie.

It's not about bootlegging, it's so someone on the film crew can't get on their blog and say "ZOMG I NO HOW TEH MOVEE END!!oneoneeleventy!!" before the movie is even finished filming.