Damon Lindelof’s ‘Watchmen‘ series is officially a go! HBO has ordered the first season of the comic book adaptation to debut in 2019.
Based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal graphic novel, the series is set in an alternate reality where superheroes exist but are treated like outlaws. The drama will not be a direct adaptation of the comic books, but a “remixed” version. As Lindelof describes it as a new original story that will “vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates”, with the original twelve issues of the comic being “our Old Testament.” HBO has said it “embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own.”
We don’t really know any more than that regarding plot or characters, however, we do know some of the cast. They include Tom Mison (‘Sleepy Hollow’), Jeremy Irons (‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’), 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’) Frances Fisher (‘Masters of Sex’), Jacob Ming-Trent (‘SuperFly’) and Andrew Howard (‘Hell on Wheels’).
Lindelof wrote the pilot which was directed by Nicole Kassell (‘The Americans’, ‘Westworld’, ‘The Leftovers’), and was described by HBO programming president Casey Bloys as “phenomenal”. Lindelof will oversee the series and exec produce with Kassell, Tom Spezialy, Stephen Williams and Joseph Iberti. The drama will be produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with WB Television.
As ‘Watchmen‘ is a HBO series, it falls under Sky’s overall deal with the US network, so it should come to Sky Atlantic in 2019.