TOMB RAIDER DUO TAP THE WATCHMAN
Copyright 2004 www.tombraiderchronicles.com

[ November 22nd 2004 ]

Paramount Pictures is in negotiations with British director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy) to helm vigilante action-adventure The Watchmen, with Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin (Lara Croft Tomb Raider) producing. Project will based on the DC Comics series of the same name, originally published in 1986. Scripter David Hayter (X-Men) signed a seven-figure deal at Universal three years ago to adapt the series.

Story, set in the 1950s, launches with a seemingly ordinary man putting on superhero garb to track down criminals. He's joined by those similarly inclined until a law is passed forcing them out of crimefighting; years later, several of his crimefighting associates are mysteriously murdered. The Watchmen, written as a 12-part series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, achieved cult status in the comicbook world for its adult sensibility and post-modern view of superheroes.

Greengrass has been in demand recently for action projects following the solid performance of The Bourne Supremacy, which topped $175 million domestically for Universal. He also helmed Bloody Sunday. Gordon and Levin have been producers on Hellboy, both Lara Croft movies, K-PAX and Mystery Men. They're both attached as producers on The Six Million Dollar Man and the Hellboy sequel. Paramount exec VP Alli Shearmur is overseeing The Watchmen for the studio.