Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...

Well, shit. I heard some rumors recently, and then did some checking around to see if they were true. Sure enough, Darren Aronofsky is officially off WATCHMEN as director. Which, in my opinion, is a bloody shame.

Now, the good news here is that the reason he left involves timing issues. See, THE FOUNTAIN is about to start principal photography. We’re talking about a matter of days here. And I love THE FOUNTAIN as a project. Paramount just couldn’t wait, though. They want to have WATCHMEN in a theater by the summer of ’06, no matter what. That means they need a filmmaker who can be ready to shoot long before Aronofsky would be ready.

So the hunt is on. My sincere hope is that they can find another filmmaker with the same passion for the project that Aronofsky had, and that they can find someone who is a talent magnet. I’ve heard a little about the cast that Aronofsky was putting together, and it would have been glorious. Who knows how many of them were attracted to the idea of working with him as a filmmaker specifically, and how many were responding to the material? Either way, I will keep my eye on this project and we’ll continue to bring you whatever news there is.