Is Watchmen A Box Office Flop?
Remember when people wondered if the general movie-going public would believe a man could fly? Remember when there was a question about whether a Batman movie would be successful without the camp and without Robin? Remember when it took eight years for Hollywood to make another Batman movie after attempting to add Robin? Remember when it was a longshot that a second tier character like Iron Man could translate into big box office dollars?
How far the comic book movie world has come that now an “R” rated comic book movie with no big name actors can open in March with the biggest opening of the year to date and be considered a flop by some. Just think about it, a couple of years ago, no one would have considered pouring huge money into making a comic book movie without a single big name actor. And while the Watchmen might be one of the best known superhero comic books among comic book fans, it is one of the least known superhero comic books among the general public to ever make it to the big screen.
Watchmen Opening Box Office Fails To Beat Jesus Or The Spartans
While the Watchmen movie could hardly be classified as a bomb or a flop, the projected opening weekend box office is coming in on the light side of estimates. No one expected the Watchmen movie to put up the type of opening weekend numbers that The Dark Knight did this past Summer, but it was expected to give Zack Snyder’s 300 movie a run for its money.
According to Box Office Mojo, the Watchmen movie box office opening weekend is projected to come in at $55.7 million. While this number might pale into comparison to some comic book movies released this past summer, it is a very respectable number for a movie with an “R” rating released in March. On the positive side, the Watchmen movie had the biggest opening weekend of any movie so far in 2009. The movie also trounced the competition, taking in close to seven times the amount of the number two film for the weekend.
The Watchmen Is The Feel-Good Movie Of The Year
Many things have been and will be written about the Watchmen movie. Some people are calling it a flop, while others are praising it as a masterpiece. The one thing for certain is that no one will describe it the way that we jokingly just did in the headline for this article. While hardly the feel-good movie of the year, the Watchmen movie is a graphically violent, intense, often disturbing, but yet brilliant piece of cinema.
Whereas The Dark Knight took people to the edge of what can be shown in a comic book movie and still be deemed socially acceptable by the mainstream public, the Watchmen movie jumps right over the edge. As scenes of superhero rape, mutilation, and mass murder play out, people who prefer their superheroes to be Tobey Maguirish are obviously going to be immediately turned off by the movie.
Many Watch the Watchmen at Midnight
Media By Numbers is reporting that the Watchmen movie earned an estimated $4.55 million during midnight showings of the film earlier today. Almost 1600 theatres showed the long awaited film based on the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons miniseries, including over 100 special screenings in IMAX. Every late night IMAX showing is said to have sold out, prompting several IMAX theatres to schedule an additional showing at 3:00 am in order to meet the demand.
Most box office forecasters are predicting that Watchmen will be the number one movie when the weekend is over. Entertainment Weekly is predicting that the film will earn over $75 million dollars. The Watchmen movie has already broken Zack Snyder’s late night screening ticket sales record of his last comic book movie, 300. When 300 premiered in 2007, it earned a gross of $2.5 million in midnight showing ticket sales. The movie went on to earn $70.9 million during its opening weekend.
Watchmen Director’s Cut May Play In Theaters
In a discussion panel during this year’s WonderCon 2009, Director Zack Snyder announced that the director’s cut version of the Watchmen movie could have a limited run in theaters. The director’s cut could hit the big screen as early as July. If and when the longer version of the film will run in theaters is dependent on the success of the shorter theatrical cut, which debuts on March 6th.
Regardless of how well the shorter version does at the box office, Snyder promises that the director’s cut would still be released on DVD sometime in the fall.
According to Geeks of Doom, some of the scenes that will appear in the director’s cut is footage documenting the role Edward Blake plays throughout American History and the death of the original Nite Owl.
Watchmen Movie Reviews Not Living Up To Watchmen Movie Trailer
Uh-oh, some critics, who have seen advanced screenings of the Watchmen movie, are not being kind to the highly anticipated film. Could it be that the fantastic Watchmen movie trailers have built up expectations so high that there is no way the actual movie can live up to the hype?
One of the biggest questions about the Watchmen Movie has always been how it will play to the general public. So far, the answer among some critics seems to be not very well. In a very negative review that is circulating quickly online, Kirk Honeycutt in the Hollywood Reporter predicts that the box office slide could be drastic after the opening weekend. Honeycutt even goes as far as to suggest that the Watchmen movie could be the first real flop of 2009.
New Watchmen Movie Video Warns Against Vigilantes
Warner Bros. has run one of the best online viral campaigns ever for the upcoming Watchmen movie. Of course, they had me as a viewer of the film with the very first Watchmen movie trailer that I saw. All indications are Zack Snyder has directed a winner, and all the online videos just reconfirm it.
Expect Big Movie Previews During Super Bowl XLIII
While you are watching the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, be sure to check out the multitude of movie trailers during the Big Game’s famous commercial breaks. According to Variety, “nearly every studio will push pics [films] during the big game, airing on Feb. 1.”
Paramount will advertise for high profile titles including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek and G.I. Joe. Universal Studios plans to show ads for the upcoming Land of the Lost live action movie, starring Will Ferrell, and the latest installment in the Fast and The Furious franchise.
Would Bad Watchmen and X-Men Origins: Wolverine Ruin the Comic Book Movie Industry?
Now that Fox and Warner Brothers have settled their Watchmen movie lawsuit, the next big question is whether or not the Watchmen movie will be a huge draw at the box office. With a reported $130 million budget, it’s going to take more than fanboys and graphic novel lovers to put that thing in the black.
Will the general public want to see Watchmen? The trailer itself should get a lot of folks excited, which should translate into a large opening weekend. But what about after that? Watchmen is an intricate tale with a ton of flashbacks. Will Zack Snyder be able to take the material and craft it into a story that anyone can follow? Especially those folks that know NOTHING about the story before they sit in the theater?
The Watchmen Movie Delay Watch Is Over
For the last several months, the entire entertainment world has been caught up in the possibility of one of the most anticipated movies of all time getting delayed. Twentieth Century Fox’s lawsuit against Warner Bros. over the Watchmen movie resulted in the movie getting a ton of free press coverage as entertainment journalist hung on every twisted legal turn.
When the judge in the case recognized that Twentieth Century Fox had some interest in the Watchmen movie property, thousands of comic book fans held their breath in fear that the Watchmen movie might be delayed. However, everyone can now exhale a sigh of relief as the Watchmen movie will keep its March 6, 2009 release date.
