Will There Be a Watchmen 2? Probably Not.

Published by Jeff Leins on: February 4th, 2010

Today a rumor circled the World Wide Web that DC Comics may be considering its options for future Watchmen comic book sequels, prequels, and spin-offs.

The “rumbling” ebbs from BleedingCool, who first chronicles the backstory (or should I say “origins”) of the 12-issue limited series before dropping the news explosion (or giant alien carcass, depending on the version).

Flashing back to 1987, Alan Moore had a falling out with DC Comics and came to the decision to never work with them again.    When the movie surfaced (first at Fox then over at Warner Bros), Moore greeted it with expected disgust, removing his name from any cinematic credits and signing away his cut from any film profits.

Similarly artist Dave Gibbons and former DC Comics Publisher and President Paul Levitz protected the original work, even restricting the video game only to previously-written material.  Then Levitz stepped down and Dan DiDio, the Senior VP-Executive Editor, reportedly picked it up as his “pet project.”  Which brings us to the present where a continuation of the Watchmen is being plotted in some capacity at DC and DiDio’s “plans seem much larger than just one book.”

Naturally that had a lot of fans like myself doing double takes and making exclamatory noises.  A Watchmen sequel?  But how?  And why?  Also who, where, and when?

Luckily there won’t be a Watchmen 2 movie… for now.  While DC’s initial deal with Fox may have included a sequel clause (like just about every movie rights deal), there aren’t any immediate plans for another film according to an inside source for the well-connected Deadline.com.  “There is no truth to anything related to a movie sequel. Not a chance by a longshot. With regards to the comics, well, I guess anything is possible. I’ll keep my opinion to myself as to whether it’s a smart idea to do so,” the source said.

Zack Snyder and several of the cast members were asked about a sequel when the movie was released last March.  Most replied with quizzical expressions and diverted answers, but Snyder refused to be involved in any follow-up.  If only he’d say the same about 300.

Snyder’s adaptation of the “unfilmable” graphic novel is probably as good as it gets, and even then the 162-minute epic barely managed to recoup its $130 million production budget.  After three months in theaters it grossed a little over $107.5 million in the U.S. and another $77.7 overseas.  Once the chunks are separated between the members of the public lawsuit, that leaves very little reason for a movie exec to greenlight a sequel any time soon.