HBO's Watchmen Series May Stray From The Original Comic

Zack Snyder's 2009 feature length film Watchmen was met with criticism that the film wasn't true to the book, specifically that the film cut out too much character development and compacted far too much of the expansive story despite the blockbuster action film's 2 hour 42 minute theatrical release.

However, those hoping that the in-development HBO Watchmen television series will be more faithful to the source material may find themselves disappointed. In addition to recent reports that Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof may not be doing the reboot, HBO president Casey Bloys told IGN that the series isn't going to be a direct adaptation of Alan Moore's acclaimed series.

"I don't want to talk too much about it, but Damon is thinking about it in a way exactly as you describe it," Bloys said. "Which is, how do you take the material and derive it from a TV show, without making it a literal translation?"

While Moore's Watchmen will serve as a rich source of inspiration for the HBO series, Bloys indicated that the show may well see original material as well. When asked if avoiding literal translation of the source material meant original ideas, Bloys seemed to tentatively affirm.

"I think so, yes," Bloys said.

Watchmen was first published in 1986 and collected in 1987. Zack Snyder released the feature film incarnation in 2009, to mixed reviews and disappointing domestic box office. It starred Jackie Earle Haley, Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Patrick Wilson.

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