Jeremy Irons Cast In Damon Lindelof’s ‘Watchmen’ Pilot For HBO
Jeremy Irons is joining another DC property, as he lands a leading role on Damon Lindelof’s upcoming ‘Watchmen’ pilot for HBO.
The new series is based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal graphic novel, set in an alternate reality where superheroes exist, but are treated like outlaws. The tv series will not be a direct adaptation of the comic books, but a “remixed” version. As Lindelof describes it, “Those original twelve issues are our Old Testament. When the New Testament came along it did not erase what came before it. Creation. The Garden of Eden. Abraham and Isaac. The Flood. It all happened. And so it will be with ‘Watchmen.’ The Comedian died. Dan and Laurie fell in love. Ozymandias saved the world and Dr Manhattan left it just after blowing Rorschach to pieces in the bitter cold of Antarctica.” Having said that, he also comments that he doesn’t see this as a sequel, but a new original story that will “vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates”…
Irons joins the already impressive cast, which includes Regina King (‘The Leftovers’), Don Johnson (‘Miami Vice’), Tim Blake Nelson(‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’), Louis Gossett Jr. (‘Hap and Leonard’, ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’), Adelaide Clemens (‘Rectify’) and Andrew Howard (‘Hell on Wheels’). As with all the casting, the actual characters on the show are being kept a tightly guarded secret, so we don’t know who Irons will be playing.
This would mark Irons only the second time signing on to an ongoing series after he starred as Rodrigo in ‘The Borgias’. Those of us who are old enough will, of course, remember his role as Charles in the 80’s mini-series ‘Brideshead Revisited’, but he’s more recently been seen as Bruce Wayne’s long-suffering butler Alfred in ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’.
Lindelof is writing the script and will exec produce the show with Nicole Kassell, who will direct the pilot. The series will be produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with WB Television. ‘Watchmen’ is only at the pilot stage right now, so may not make it to series, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
