Grey
The town is definitely watching "The Watchmen."
Speculation has been raging this week that new Paramount chief Brad Grey was pulling the plug on the action-adventure and putting it into turnaround. But producer Larry Gordon and studio spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick have insisted Par plans to go ahead with Brit director Paul Greengrass ("The Bourne Supremacy") helming.
"We really want to make it," Kirkpatrick said. "We think it's a great piece of material."
Gordon, who's producing with Lloyd Levin, said, "If it were in turnaround, I wouldn't be talking to you."
"The Watchmen," based on the DC Comics series of the same name, has come under microscopic scrutiny in the wake of Fox Entertainment prexy Gail Berman replacing Donald De Line as studio president. De Line found out about the change while in London meeting with Greengrass about "The Watchmen" and the need to cut its budget, rumored to be $100 million.
Par had been aiming for a June start but in recent days, some of the crew members working on pre-production have been released. Kirkpatrick said some crews remain on the job.
Pic was previously set up at Universal; David Hayter signed a seven-figure deal with that studio in 2001 to adapt with an eye to directing.
Story, set in the 1950s, centers on a seemingly ordinary man putting on superhero garb to track down criminals and joined by those similarly inclined.
Contact Dave McNary at
dave.mcnary@variety.com