“All we ever see of stars are their old photographs.”
-Alan Moore, Watchmen
Hurm, it would appear that HBO liked what they saw in Damon Lindelof's WATCHMEN pilot, because the cable network has announced that they've given the highly-anticipated project a full series order. The show, now scheduled for a 2019 premiere, is expected to present fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ legendary limited comic book series with an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws. While many were hoping that the series would amount to an elaborate re-telling of the classic tale, Lindelof has stated on numerous occasions that people should be looking forward to something new from his version. Essentially, fans should consider it a "remix" of sorts, as opposed to a straight-forward adaptation of the original.
Recently, while attending TCA last month, HBO programming president Casey Bloys expressed his enthusiasm for the pilot by saying, “I have very, very high hopes,” in regard to the pilot episode. “They did a great job. Damon wrote a phenomenal script, and Nikki Kassell did an amazing job shooting the show.”
We now know that the pilot was "amazing" enough to grant Lindelof a series order for his lofty comic book project, and that fans of the series will be watching closely as more news begins to circulate.
Set to star in the WATCHMEN series are Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson and Louis Gossett Jr., who will be joined by Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon. Lindelof, who wrote the script, will executive produce with Nikki Kassell and Tom Spezialy. Kassell will shoot the show with Stephen Williams on board to direct and executive produce.
It's been a long road for WATCHMEN's HBO debut, but the moment when we know a full series is coming to the network is finally here. What are you thoughts about checking out a "remixed" version of the WATCHMEN universe? Would you have preferred Lindelof stick with the original cast of characters, or are you excited to see what else the dark and dangerous world of the WATCHMEN has to offer? Let us know in the comments section below.