The Leftovers showrunner Damon Lindelof has tapped one of the series’ episodic directors, Nicole Kassell, to helm the pilot for his high-profile followup drama project at HBO, Watchmen.
The pilot was written by Lindelof based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ iconic limited comic series, which is considered a dark satirical and dystopian take on the superhero genre.
Lindelof and Kassell will executive produce the pilot. The project, from Lindelof’s White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros. Television, also has received an order for backup scripts.
Kassell’s two Leftovers episodes, the season 2 “No Room at the Inn” and season 3 “It’s A Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World,” both have been lauded by critics.
This is Kassell’s second pilot directing job after TNT’s Claws — also from Warner Bros. — and one of the highest-profile premium pilot assignments for a female director.
At HBO, in addition to The Leftovers, Kassell has directed episodes of WBTV/Bad Robot’s Westworld as well as Vinyl. Elsewhere, she has helmed episodes of FX’s The Americans, AMC’s Better Call Sall and SundanceTV’s Rectify as well as finales for ABC’s American Crime and Hulu’s upcoming Castle Rock, from Bad Robot and WBTV.
Kassell’s first feature, The Woodsman, premiered in competition at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed by Newmarket Films. It received a CACAE (Art House award) at Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival; Jury Prize at the Deauville Film Festival; a Humanitas nomination; and the Satyajit Ray Award at the London Film Festival. Kassell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award (Best First Feature). She is repped by Management 360, WME and Victoria Cook.
