The American cable channel has green-lighted the adaptation of the comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of "Lost" and "The Leftovers," will take charge of the project.
After months of rumors, HBO has confirmed that it will go ahead with a series based on the "Watchmen" comics. The channel has commissioned a pilot and several scripts to be evaluated in advance of any airing on the small screen.
To adapt the comics that were first published in the 1980s, the broadcaster has called on the services of Damon Lindelof, the series creator who already collaborated with HBO on "The Leftovers," a drama starring Justin Theroux that ran for three seasons until June 2017. Lindelof is also renowned for his role in the creation of the ultra-successful "Lost," which first aired in 2004.
"Watchmen" takes place in 1985 in an alternative America marked by a U.S. victory in the Vietnam war and the on-running presidency of Richard Nixon who has remained in office since 1968. The Cold War is still in full swing and the threat of nuclear conflict has never been so great.
Against this backdrop, the vigilante Rorschach sets out to investigate the murder of a former superhero, The Comedian.
A mixture of political, detective and science fiction, the "Watchmen" was already adapted for film in 2009 by Zack Snyder who directed Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Carla Gugino in their roles as superheroes.
In an attempt to bring this world to the small screen, HBO already held talks with Zack Snyder in 2014, however, the project was put on hold due to Snyder's busy schedule.
