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Hayter, whose first major screen credit was the script for "X-Men," has just signed a seven-figure deal to adapt the revered DC Comics title "The Watchmen". He is being considered as a director for the project, Variety reports.
Hayter is polishing up a final draft of a script for the "X-Men" sequel with returning director Bryan Singer. In addition, he has been tapped to work on big-budget projects such as "The Hulk," the "Mummy" spin-off "The Scorpion King", and the "Pitch Black" sequel "The Chronicles Of Riddick," Variety said.
Hayter is also writing a TV pilot script for The WB entitled "Lost In Oz," based on the novels of L. Frank Baum, who created the characters featured in the classic "The Wizard Of Oz."
But Variety said it's "The Watchmen" that is Hayter's passion project. The comic was first published in 1986 as a 12-part series. It was subsequently packaged as a bound graphic novel. The story is set in the 1950s and features an ordinary man who decides to put on a hero costume and become a vigilante hero.
Gradually, he's joined by other wanna-be heroes, until a law is passed banning such actions.
"Just the way we tried to make the characters in 'X-Men' real and show that their superpowers were a curse as much as a gift, 'The Watchmen' has a very high and intense level of character development," Hayter told Variety.
"The series deconstructed the superhero mystique and took a literate look at the comic-book genre. It goes way beyond the standard hero and villain stuff and has the makings of a richly developed mystery." (More on X-Men)