By this point, it seems HBO is either messing with us, or it wants the development of “Watchmen” to reach “Lost” levels of mystery. While fans and news outlets speculate and dissect every single interview out there for clues on whether Angela can or cannot walk on water, HBO has reclassified Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen” from a “drama series” to a “limited series” ahead of an official awards season campaign. Most curiously, the new categorization includes “any possible future installments.”
Variety reports that HBO announced its reclassifying of the superhero drama series, as HBO sent a statement saying “We discussed with the producers and felt limited series was the most accurate representation of the show and any possible future installments.” The movie aligns HBO’s awards season campaign with how executive producer and showrunner Damon Lindelof has repeatedly referred to the show from the very beginning, as a complete and self-contained story.
While the move is probably just part of award season strategy, as “Watchmen” ranked amongst the most critically celebrated shows last year, it does seem to put a nail in the coffin of whether the show will continue. Even if a limited series doesn’t necessarily mean a one-and-done show, it certainly implies there’s less of a chance for future stories than if the show was classified as an ongoing drama series. What’s interesting, however, is the specification of “any possible future installments” in HBO’s statement, as it implies that there may be an open door for more despite Lindelof often saying he wouldn’t return for more, though he wouldn’t be opposed to more stories being told if they were the right ones to tell.
The likeliest answer would be to turn “Watchmen” into an anthology show like “Fargo” with new characters, setting and even time period with each season, but recently HBO executives have said that they probably wouldn’t proceed without Lindelof. In the meantime, we can all take solace that we can listen to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ fantastic score for the series on repeat while the higher-ups make up their minds.