Damon Lindelof Says that his Watchmen TV Series Will “Remix” the Comic
Damon Lindelof is working on the HBO adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen comics and knows that fans are nervous about the final product after Zack Snyder’s film generated a very divided response (I, for one, like the movie). Lindelof has written an open letter addressing how he will handle the property and has claimed they will not be doing a straight adaptation of the classic twelve-issue series:
We have no desire to ‘adapt’ the twelve issues Mr. Moore and Mr. Gibbons created thirty years ago. Those issues are sacred ground and they 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.
He went on to say that what they are doing is not a sequel either, so whether this will allay the concerns of fans or not is uncertain at this point. But at least Lindelof is aware of the high regard fans have for the original work and hopefully that will guide him in his work on the television adaption.
In additional Watchmen news, several casting announcements came out this week and we have learned that Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Adelaide Clemens, and Andrew Howard will be joining the series. There is no word at this point on which characters they will be playing.
Matt Groening’s Disenchantment Set for Summer Bow at Netflix
The first images of Matt Groening’s upcoming animated fantasy comedy Disenchantment were released this week and Netflix has announced August 17th as the premiere date for the ten-episode first season. Deadline Hollywood gives the following description for the show:
Set in the crumbling medieval kingdom of Dreamland, the series will follow the misadventures of hard-drinking young princess Bean, her feisty elf companion Elfo, and her personal demon Luci. Along the way, the oddball trio will encounter ogres, sprites, harpies, imps, trolls, walruses, and lots of human fools.
Abbi Jacobson (BoJack Horseman), Nat Faxon (Blaze and the Monster Machines), and Eric Andre will be voicing the lead characters. More Summer debuts have been announced including Salvation (CBS, June 25th), Castle Rock (Hulu, July 25th), and the Sense8 finale (Netflix, June 7th). The full Summer schedule is available at this link.
Sci Fi TV Status Report: The Expanse Close to Being Picked Up by Amazon, Lucifer Could Be Saved as Well
The Hollywood Reporter claimed earlier this week that Syfy’s cancelled The Expanse has been “revived” by Amazon, though they went on to say that the streaming service “is in talks” to bring the show back and has not reached a deal just yet. But word is that negotiations are progressing and that an announcement could come soon. Fans continue to support the show on the social networks and have also done such things as fly a banner over the Amazon studios and also launch a replica of the Rocinante into low orbit (no, really). As for Lucifer, fans continue to pound the social nets and series star Tom Ellis has been involved in lobbying for a fourth season. He has said that “a conversation has been sparked” about possibly bringing it back for a fourth season, but could not provide any further detail. Fans should remain diligent over the coming weeks in their support of both shows, and hopefully their efforts will be rewarded.
Sci Fi TV Schedule: Premieres for Starhunter Redux and Reverie, New Eps of Lucifer, Season Finales for iZombie and Siren
Though it is not June until the end of next week, we will count it as the first week of the Summer season as two shows will be joining the schedule to kick things off. On Tuesday, Starhunter: Redux has its debut on El Rey at 8 PM EST. That is a revision of the 2000 series that aired for two seasons which has new special effects and has been recut to more closely follow the original story. There are currently plans for an all-new third season to follow the Redux encore run. On Wednesday, NBC’s new paranormal drama Reverie has its premiere at 10 PM EST. On Monday, two new episodes of Lucifer will air back-to-back on FOX. Those are holdover standalone eps from this past season and will not resolve the Season 3 cliffhanger. Also on Monday, The CW’s iZombie has it season finale. And on Thursday, Freeform’s Siren wraps up its first season. You can see the full Summer schedule of sci fi and fantasy shows at this link and you can keep up with the weekly listings at this link.
More Sci Fi TV News
Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel series (which could cost the streaming service up to a billion dollars to produce) will focus on the adventures of a young Aragorn according to rumors.
The upcoming fifth and final season of Gotham will adapt the Batman: Year Zero storyline according to ComicBook.com.
Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (Lost, Once Upon A Time) will be joining Apple’s reboot of Amazing Stories as showrunners. Bryan Fuller started development on that but bowed out due to “creative differences”.
