News Watchmen (2019)

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
“Watchmen” Character Breakdowns Surprise


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It has already been said that unlike Zack Snyder’s quite faithful film adaptation, HBO’s upcoming series take on Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” comics will be quite different.

That Hashtag Show have this weekend reportedly shared some descriptions for the show’s main characters and it suggests those reports are sort of true as there’s not a single recognisable character like The Comedian, Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, etc. amongst them. Here’s the casting breakdown:

Angela Abraham: African-American female cop. Independent and intelligent, she’s also a realist. She’s married to Cal, with whom she has a daughter and is fiercely protective of them both.

Cal Abraham: African-American male who is the stay-at-home husband of Angela. While he seems at home as the king of his castle and being a loving husband and father, it’s clear his past has a different story to tell.

Looking Glass: A good looking cop, the native Oklahoman isn’t simple as his rural accent makes him appear to be. A top interrogator and behavioral scientist, he may also be a bit of a sociopath.

Panda: An ethnic desk cop, he’s cynical and tough and puts his job first. Not a friend to many, he uses comedy to keep people at bay.

Red Scare: Mafioso, track suit wearing cop. His Russian accent lends to his abrasiveness.

Pirate Jenny: An androgynous and lustful bisexual cop, Jenny is an anarchist at heart.

Jane Crawford: The wife of the police chief, Judd, Jane is a veterinarian who’s sharper than her guarded persona lets on.

Old Man: A former cop who is still an imposing figure despite his age.

Of course a good possibility is that these are codenames and fake breakdowns to throw people off the scene of what they’re actually shooting as a show about Oklahoma police officers is probably not what people are expecting.

Nevertheless, speaking with Bookish with Sonya Walger last week, showrunner Damon Lindelof says don’t expect a direct adaptation of Alan Moore’s iconic comic in the way Snyder’s movie was:

“[Adapting] may be the right word, at the end of the day. Do you watch Fargo at all? I wouldn’t call Noah Hawley’s version of Fargo an adaptation because the movie exists inside of his world, and so everything that happened in the movie Fargo, it does precede the television show Fargo. So they find a bag of money in the first season, and you go, ‘Oh, that came from the movie.’

But it’s also, Noah is pulling from other areas of the Coen brothers’ canon, so it evokes like Lebowski, but it’s also his own thing. I think it’s widely known that Alan Moore does not want Watchmen to be adapted, so I’m playing a bit of a game of semantics here in saying, ‘I’m not adapting Watchmen!’

That’s the spirit of what he did with Watchmen in the first place. It’s not to take [anything from him]. He created this — it’s an original — but the basis for that world is on these other characters that DC had just bought from this comics company called Charlton. And he did rips on those characters.

But all of his other work that I love, whether it be Swamp Thing or an amazing Superman story called ‘Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?,’ and a great Batman story. It’s sort of like, the idea that he came in and told iconic stories with characters that he didn’t create, and has now turned around and said, ‘You’re not allowed to do that with the characters that I created.’ So I feel like his own hypocrisy has allowed me to defy all his. [laughs]

HBO hasn’t begun filming the series yet so it’s not expected to premiere until late 2019 at the earliest.
 

ant-mac

Member: Rank 9
This is starting to sound like STAR TREK: DISCOVERY all over again...

About the only thing it'll end up having in common with the original source is the fucking name. :emoji_angry:
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Lindelof Explains His “Watchmen” Series Plans


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Producer Damon Lindelof has been developing a new TV series based on Alan Moore’s iconic comic “Watchmen” for HBO for the past few months and is currently at work on the show’s pilot.

Now, in a new five-page letter he posted on social media today, he confirms this will not be a direct adaptation of the original comic but rather a new story set in the same world. In the lengthy letter, he goes on to explain why they made that choice. Here’s a sample:

“We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and will not be retread nor recreated nor reproduced nor rebooted. They will, however, be remixed, because the bass lines in those familiar tracks are just too good and we’d be fools not to sample them.

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.

This story will be set in the world its creators painstakingly built…but in the tradition of the work that inspired it, this new story must be original. It has to vibrate with the seismic unpredictability of its own tectonic plates. It must ask new questions and explore the world through a fresh lens.

Most importantly, it must be contemporary. The Old Testament was specific to the Eighties of Reagan and Thatcher and Gorbachev. Ours needs to resonate with the frequency of Trump and May and Putin and the horse that he rides around on, shirtless. And speaking of Horsemen, The End of the World is off the table…which means the heroes and villains–as if the two are distinguishable – are playing for different stakes entirely.”

You can read the full letter below. The series isn’t expected to hit the airwaves until late 2019 at the earliest.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BjFsj6JHEdq/?utm_source=ig_embed
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
First Cast Of HBO’s “Watchmen” Revealed


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Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard are all set to appear in Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen” TV series pilot at HBO.

King will reportedly take on the lead role in the series, having worked with Lindelof on “The Leftovers” also for HBO. The exact details of their characters are being kept under wraps.

On Tuesday Lindelof posted a letter to fans in which explained his vision for the series, one which will not be a direct adaptation but a new story in the same world with new characters set in the present day.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Jeremy Irons To Lead HBO’s “Watchmen” Series


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Jeremy Irons has scored a leading role (one of several) in the pilot for the Damon Lindelof-produced HBO series adaptation of Alan Moore’s legendary 1986 “Watchmen” comic mini-series.

The original story centers on a murder-mystery before unfolding into a planet-altering conspiracy that ultimately asks where the line is drawn between heroes and villains.

Irons’ casting follows news the other week that Regina King and Don Johnson had joined the series cast in regular roles. Irons will play the ageing and imperious lord of a British manor, marking his second TV series regular role following three seasons of Showtime’s “The Borgias”.

Damon Lindelof serves as creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer and has previously made it clear the series will NOT be a direct adaptation, but an original story with new characters in a universe and tone akin to the original.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
“Watchmen” Series Is A Go At HBO


HBO’s new TV series based on Alan Moore’s iconic comic “Watchmen” is reportedly a go at HBO. Damon Lindelof is behind this new take on the material which received a pilot order in 2017 and has now gotten a series order with a 2019 premiere in mind.

The series will not be a straight adaption like Zack Snyder’s 2009 film, rather a ‘remix’ of the original material – even as many of the characters remain intact. Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr. and many more star.

After a fairly anemic 2018, HBO’s 2019 slate is looking to be super packed with high profile titles including the final seasons of “Game of Thrones” and “Veep,” the second season of “Big Little Lies,” the third of “True Detective,” and debuts such as Jordan Peele’s “Lovecraft Country” and potentially Joss Whedon’s “The Nevers” and J.J. Abrams’ “Demimonde”.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Gibbons Gives HBO’s “Watchmen” His Approval


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Both HBO and producer Damon Lindelof have made it clear that the upcoming cable series adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic graphic novel “Watchmen” will be loyal in spirit but very different narratively from the original work.

It’s a welcome move, Zack Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation being an at times overly faithful adaptation – so much so there’s little need for another again so soon, especially with that film rising in estimation over the past near-decade. The pilot for the series began filming earlier with an impressive cast and while Moore famously won’t talk about adaptations of his work, Gibbons has spoken about the new series with EW saying:

“I do know a little about it. I’ve had conversations with Damon, and I’ve read the screenplay for the pilot. I don’t think it’s my place to say too much about it, other than I found Damon’s approach to be really refreshing and exciting and unexpected. I don’t think it’s gonna be what people think it’s going to be. It certainly wasn’t what I imagined it to be. I think it’s extremely fresh. I’m really looking forward to seeing it on the screen.

I’ve been resistant to the comic book prequels and sequels, but what Damon’s doing is not that at all, it’s very far away from that. While it’s very reverential and true to the source material (by which I mean the Watchmen graphic novel that Alan and I did), it’s not retreading the same ground, it’s not a reinterpretation of it. It approaches it in a completely unexpected way.”

Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Jeremy Irons, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Adelynn Spoon and Lily Rose Smith all star in “Watchmen” which is reportedly set to premiere sometime in 2019.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
James Wolk Joins HBO’s “Watchmen” Series


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“Zoo” and “Tell Me a Story” alum James Wolk had joined the cast of HBO’s “Watchmen” series based on Alan Moore’s legendary 1986 comic mini-series. Wolk will have a major recurring role as a junior senator from Oklahoma.

The original story centers on a murder-mystery before unfolding into a planet-altering conspiracy that ultimately asks where the line is drawn between heroes and villains, but this series will NOT be a direct adaptation and instead service an original story with new characters in a universe and tone akin to the original.

Damon Lindelof serves as creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer on the series which also stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Don Johnson, Louis Gossett Jr., Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Tim Blake Nelson, Adelaide Clemens and Andrew Howard.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Watchmen

“Downsizing” actress Hong Chau has scored a key role on HBO’s upcoming series adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic limited comic series “Watchmen”. Chau is expected to play a Vietnamese character named Lady T.

The series aims to embrace the nostalgia skewering dark satire of the original graphic novel while attempting to break new ground at the same time.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Dustin Ingram Joins HBO’s “Watchmen”


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Dustin Ingram (“Sun Records”) has scored a key recurring role on HBO’s upcoming drama series adaptation of Alan Moore’s comic “Watchmen” which is being produced by Damon Lindelof.

The story is a dark satirical and dystopian take on the superhero genre, set in an alternate history where ‘superheroes’ are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own.

Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, James Wolk and Hong Chau co-star. The show will premiere later this year.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Watchmen

HBO’s “Watchmen” showrunner Damon Lindelof has made it clear before that the new series is not an adaptation of the Alan Moore comic but rather a follow-up set decades later. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly this week ahead of the show’s October 20th premiere, Lindelof explained how to categorize the show:

“Look, [the new series] certainly fits into the ‘sequel’ box, and definitely doesn’t fit into the ‘reboot’ box. We treat the original 12 issues as canon. They all happened. We haven’t done any revisionist history, but we can maneuver in between the cracks and crevices and find new stories there. We wanted to make sure our first episode felt like the beginning of a new story rather than a continuation of an old story. That’s what I think a sequel is — the continuation of an old story.”
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Failed “Watchmen” Film Test Footage Online


http://www.darkhorizons.com/failed-watchmen-film-test-footage-online/


Before it became one of the year’s most acclaimed TV series on HBO, and before it was adapted into a feature by Zack Snyder a decade ago, another failed attempt was made to bring Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic comic “Watchmen” to the big screen.

Writer/director David Hayter was at one point attached to do a “Watchmen” film and shot some test footage for said project back in 2001 – a scene with British actors Ray Stevenson as Rorschach and Iain Glen as Nite Owl II. That version obviously never worked out and didn’t make it any further, but now that test footage has been released online.
Terry Gilliam, Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were all linked to a “Watchmen” film at one point or another, even as the property was shifted between four different studios.
Hayter’s script was set in 2004 (not the 1980s) and made some other key changes, one of them being the famous giant squid ending was changed to several nuclear explosions around the world – a change that Snyder’s final film ultimately incorporated (and which the HBO series has ignored).


 
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