Well, we knew this was coming; in fact I’d assumed this had already happened it’s been so long since I’ve heard anything new about Watchmen. But, the inevitable is here and Variety has confirmed that Paramount Pictures, in the midst of all their restructuring, and after repeatedly reducing the budget has officially dropped Paul Greengrass’s Watchmen movie.

Word is that the film will once again be shopped to other studios, who knows if anyone will pick it up. Even if it is picked up, with a history of stops and starts I won’t bet on it making it to theaters until I actually see a movie trailer.

It’s a shame too, because Greengrass sounded like he really had a good hold on what it would take to make the project, and because I recently read the combined version of all the Watchmen books available at your local bookstore so that I know what the heck its fans are talking about. Now all my research as been for nothing. On the other hand, with the all the budget cuts Paramount has been dishing, perhaps this is a good thing