April 01, 2005 - Word of a possible ill fate being in store for the long-in-development Watchmen movie first surfaced in a report at the Los Angeles Times and then rumors fueled online suggested the worst: Watchmen was on life support, thanks to a changing of the guard at Paramount Pictures amid attempts to curb the film's $100+M budget.

Variety has now investigated the matter. "If it were in turnaround, I wouldn't be talking to you," Watchmen producer Larry Gordon advised the trade.

"We really want to make it," said Paramount spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick. "We think it's a great piece of material." Anyone else sense a big "but ..." coming?

As Variety reports, "Par had been aiming for a June start but in recent days, some of the crew members working on pre-productionpre-production have been released. Kirkpatrick said some crews remain on the job."

The question remains whether Paramount has the nerve to turn such a daring and beloved text as Watchmen into a film.