Watchmen May Be Coming to HBO

Watching The Watchmen on TV?

The Hollywood Reporter have announced that HBO may be bringing beloved graphic novel Watchmen to the small screen.
“Preliminary discussions regarding Watchmen have occurred but we have no additional information and no deals are in place,” said HBO in a statement released on Thursday.

As first reported by Collider, Zack Snyder — who directed the 2009 feature film based on Alan Moore’s highly regarded graphic novel — is attached to the HBO incarnation. The potential HBO take comes from Warner Bros. Television, who owns the publishers of Watchmen, DC Comics.

No additional information was provided and it’s unclear if HBO’s take is a reboot, remake or prequel, like the 2012’s comic series Before Watchmen.

First published in 1986 and collected in 1987, Watchmen was created by Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. The series has been featured as one of the 100 best novels from Time magazine.

Snyder adapted the comic and brought the title’s Minutemen crime fighters to the big screen back in 2009 with Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson starring. The film, produced by Warner Bros. Pictures with a $130 million production budget, grossed a disappointing $107.5 million domestically and $185.3 million worldwide.

A Watchmen TV series at HBO would put them squarely in the comics business. AMC has found huge success with The Walking Dead and will bring controversial comic Preacher, published by DC’s Vertigo imprint and created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, to TV next year. The CW and Fox have also proven very successful with DC adaptations including The Flash, Arrow and Gotham, while this month sees CBS launch Supergirl. ABC, meanwhile, has two Marvel series in the shape of Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter. Come midseason, Fox will also unveil yet another Vertigo series adaptation Lucifer.