Variety is reporting that Paramount has pulled the plug on the live action feature film adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen.  The Watchmen project, which was originally set up at Universal in 2001, is now in what Hollywood euphemistically refers to as 'turnaround,' but which could be better described as 'limbo.'  Producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin are shopping the project, with director Paul Greenglass (The Bourne Supremacy, aka The Bourne Witch Project because of its abundance of shaky, headache-inducing, hand-held camerawork) to other studios.

Paramount was reportedly nervous over the film's $100 million budget, but fans and retailers will be disappointed that the project has been dropped by yet another studio.  Watchmen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, is one of the best-selling graphic novels of all time, a perennially strong seller, which would likely have been able to reach an even bigger audience with the added promotion of a major motion picture adaptation.