Back in June, a rumour emerged claiming that HBO was taking a second stab at developing a Watchmen series, after its first attempt with director Zack Snyder failed to get off the ground in 2014. This latest report claimed than Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers) was spearheading the adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal comic book series, but according to Lindelof himself, he’s yet to have any talks with the cable network.
“All I can say at this time is, as of right now I haven’t had any meetings at HBO about Watchmen,” Lindelof tells TV Line. “I’ve been very vocal about my love for those 12 issues that eventually became a graphic novel, that they were completely and totally inspiring for all the storytelling that I did subsequently, and that I owe a debt to it. So is that piece of material something that’s really interesting to me? Yes, but I do feel like I have to weigh the balance of ‘Should it exist?’ before I decide to take it on, and I’m sort of in that process now. I hold the source material in such high regard it would literally be the worst feeling in the world to screw it up. So I take it very seriously, there’s a lot of responsibility. All I can say is I’m thinking about Watchmen a lot right now, nothing official.”
So, that’s not an outright denial from Lindelof, but if there is any truth to the rumours at all it seems it’s very, very early days.
While we may not be getting a TV show any time soon, there are rumours that an animated movie is in the works from Warner Bros., while the Watchmen universe is set to clash with the DC universe in the upcoming DC Comics event series Doomsday Clock.
Originally published July 27, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
