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Watchmen doesn’t open until Friday, but online ticket sales are on fire. MovieTickets just reported that the pic is outpacing Zack Snyder's previous 300 at 4-to-1 right now. but 300 sold more than 80% of its advance tickets on the Wednesday and Thursday prior to its release. Meanwhile, purchases for 124 IMAX screens now account for 1/3 of all Watchmen online ticket sales. Overall Watchmen ticket sales doubled Sunday to Monday. Fandango is already seeing the film snap up 61% of the online ticket site’s sales. Dozens of Thursday midnight showtimes for the film are already sold out from New York City to Dallas to San Diego.
Over the weekend, Fandango surveyed moviegoers planning to screen Watchmen
-- 60% have read the Watchmen graphic novel
-- 85% say the online clips and trailers made them more excited to see the movie
-- 57% plan to see Watchmen with a group of friends
-- 71% are planning a get together before or after the movie
-- 85% had seen director Zack Snyder’s previous movie 300 on the big screen
-- 73% are male
-- 65% are aged 18 to 34
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Maybe I’m just freaked out by the Jonas bros thing last weekend. Maybe it’s the dismissive reviews (and buzz) so far. But I just don’t see “Watchmen” headed to “300″ numbers anymore. I think it may do a big Friday, like $30-40 mil, and then fizzle through the weekend and quickly disappear. Am I crazy?
And they hated it.
Thank God, for once, you didn’t start this article by declaring “I don’t do geek.” Maybe you finally figured out that “geek” is now the MAINSTREAM.
100% have never known the pleasures of physical love with another living person.
Yay, I can’t wait to see Watchmen this Friday or Saturday!
I sincerely hope this flick will soar. As weird and convoluted it may seem at times it still remains a pretty bold story about the nature of our existence. And I think its boldness will either turn people off or make those who appreciate the level of craft in the graphic novel love it even more.
It’ll have a nice opening weekend thanks to an expensive marketing campaign (the virals on youtube are the best) and then will drop like a rock next weekend.
This is from someone who bought these as they came out back in the day and wondered for years how a film would look. That being said, I worry on the acting and overall accessibility of a very very narrow genre: post modern super hero.
I worry on the acting and overall accessibility of a very very narrow genre: post modern super hero.
Surely this will underperform the peerless exemplars of modernist super-hero – for that we need to refer to the runaway successes of Fantastic Four and Superman Returns. Ahem.
I had the opportunity to see the show at Edwards AFB this weekend (somehow they always manage to lay their hands on a print of these big shows beforehand…). It’s an excellent film, absolutely on par with Dark Night, and I, having read the book, was thoroughly impressed, and my brother, having not read the book, really dug it and didn’t have any problem following the story. I can’t account for the trickle of bad reviews; it’s a difficult film to watch at times, but so was Dark knight, and 300 for that matter. The acting is excellent: Rorschach in prison is worth the price of admission, and no Nikki that’s not a spoiler, promise!
Some observers may be caught off guard by the certainty of repeat business built in to this thing (a much bigger factor in Dark Knight’s grosses than I’ve ever seen reported) but significant critical support will be needed to sustain anything beyond that (which will still be very significant). Factor in the wasteland at the box office for the near term and potential is high. I don’t think 100M+ after 2 weekends is out of the realm of possibility.
& 100% don’t know what to do with a date.
Francis Urquhart- Out of touch much?
Call me crazy, I don’t think the $1B box office for the Dark Knight was entirely thanks to virgin teenaged boys taking their right hands on a special night out to the multiplex.
And while I’m not a huge fan of Zack Snyder’s, this movie’s stirring a lot of interest. Just because your idea of a good night is having a glass of warm milk while you watch your Dallas reruns, there’s no reason for the hating on alleged geek-fare. Especially as, was mentioned above, Geek is becoming very much mainstream these days, chief.
I’ve seen it and think that the film is sensational. The most original studio picture in many a year. That’s one long midnight show though since the film is close to 3 hours!
Definitely NOT at the movies for this one, and I am a card-carrying geek.
Francis @6:16am – funniest f’n thing I have seen in a while…I’m still laughing. Thanks.
Call me crazy, but is it in the realm of possiblility that we can see this have a $100M+ opening weekend. There is no other big blockbusters out there right now, and because of the recession, everything (except Jonas Bros.) is performing way beyond expectations. We are obviously not going to see Dark Knight numbers here, but maybe closer to Iron Man numbers. Possibly an opening somewhere around $103-$104M. I would not be shocked.
Why would it drop like a rock next weekend — it looks to me like this has weeks and weeks of nothing remotely like it coming out. I say 250 domestic is easily in its reach.
Dark Knight was a word of mouth hit AND a repeat business hit, and Watchmen has a similar appeal.
Watchmen as a graphic novel is about 300 times more popular than ‘300′ the graphic novel.
I’m a comic book fan and read the graphic novels but still thought the acting was TERRIBLE and the plot towards the end just gets tired. All this pre-sale hype are just the core fans…I REALLY doubt it’s going to expand to broad based appeal like 300.
Those who have seen it all have the same reaction, including me. You enjoy it if you know the graphic novel…everyone else was ripping on it at the screening I went to last week.
Now that Fox is getting a piece of the Watchman gross I was wondering if they were going to pour any advertising dollars into the film?
The popularity of a comic relative to other comics should never be considered a factor in the success of the FILM versions; most of the audience for these things consists of that strange crowd that thinks that MOVIES made of comics are “cool”, but who never read comics themselves… a weird offshot of the geek-hating crowd Nikki prides herself on being a member of.(Hey, will you at least concede that comics people still talk about decades after they were published are probably better than the film versions that are forgotten a year after they came out? )
300 wasn’t a success due to the graphic novel — it was a success because it a) had an original cool look and b) was a cathartic release and thinly veiled War on Terror movie. It was an unapologetic West vs the Barbarians. Dozens of movies bashing America and say, oh we deserve it, the Islamists are misunderstood, yada, yada, yada — they all tanked.
One movie, 300, showed one of the great moment in Western civilization. It portrayed Western civilization as heroic, as superior to the eastern despots and their traditions of submission — and it did great business.
Maybe it IS a faithful adaption of the graphic novel (which I’ve never read) but for a Watchmen virgin like me it was lots of flash and overall very unsatisfying. The female hero was totally miscast. I cared NOTHING for these characters. And the plot started out cool but just turned out silly, even for a superhero movie. A very interesting idea and kudos to them for trying something different here, but different doesn’t always mean good. I predict it will soar opening weekend with fanboy fever, then take a nose dive. I think some people raving about it online are being bought off too, but to each his own…
Considering the lack of stars, I’m glad this is going to do well. Maybe Hollywood will quit paying $60 million to hack actors like Cruise and Nicholson.
Theaters are advocates for graphic novel/comic book adaptations not only for the fanboy ticket sales, but also the blockbuster concession sales they elicit. I mean, these lard-butt fanboy saps practically unhinge their jaws and swallow tubs of popcorn, buckets of Coke, and crates full of Milk Duds whole over the course of two hours.
It’s a conspiracy between studios and theaters to stymie any sexual attraction to these young men, otherwise they’d be spending their money on dates…with actual girls.
And for those fanboys who claim they’re fornicating..with an actual girl, I’m getting the image of a blubbery elephant seal clumsily bobbing itself up and down upon some reluctant cow.
It’s no secret that Watchmen continues to track awkwardly. It’s base is men over 25. Males under 25 aren’t as interested. Tracks poorly with women of all ages.
Let me get this straight. Watchmen is opening in 3,600+ locations. Fandango claims 61% of its ticket sales are for Watchmen. 33% of all Watchmen online ticket sales are for 124 locations – out of 3,600+.
That isn’t very impressive for online ticket sales in general or Watchmen in particular. 33% of all online ticket sales are for 124 locations out of 3,600 for a three-hour movie? That’s not a lot of shows. That’s not really that much interest considering none of that is going to be repeated for week 2.
A $60 million weekend seems to be the current favorite over/under. Some like $75.
I think a $45 million weekend with a 60% week 2 drop is more realistic.
After seeing all of the virals and behind the scenes footage, I keep shuttling between wary and hopeful, so I’ve decided upon being “cautiously optimistic” about this film.
Just don’t f-up any of Rorschach’s scenes and I’ll be mollified.
(And I am going to admit to getting chills seeing some of the footage. Some of it looks absolutely brilliant and true to the original graphic novel.)
In terms of Watchmen vs The Dark Knight and BO, TDK had Heath Ledger going for it. Not because he died, but because of attracting female viewers. Same goes for Christian Bale. Watchmen doesn’t have any of that and as a source text is way more niche than Batman is.
That said, me – being female – only really heard about this film due to the whole lawsuit and followed it because of that. I also read the comic because I kept hearing that it was so complex as to be impossible to film. Don’t agree in terms of plot, do agree in terms of the format of the comics.
But ya, what I’m trying to say is that the film may have a bigger and more varied audience than the survey suggests based on the lawsuit. Just not peeps who will go see it on the day it comes out or NEED to reserve ticks for opening night, but I think this’ll have legs.
Just saw it tonight. Wow. I’m still reeling. I’m not sure how this film got past development. Even if one were to look past the wooden acting and laughable script, it is one of the most ill-conceived films I have ever seen. Yes, it was packed, but afterwards the entire theater staggered out in disbelief at this trainwreck. Curiosity will lead to a huge first two days and then this film will surely drop like a lead balloon. I’m going to make the shocking prediction that this film will be hard pressed to make a 100 million domestic total.
@Rabble Rabble
Francis Urquhart picked a name from a *grown up* canon (the brilliant British House Of Cards trilogy…political drama/thrillers extraordinaire) It’s stuff for grown up men and women with a touch of worldliness about them.
When you grow up from Sci-fi/fantasy/horror flick/comic book fandom and learn to appreciate other genres of films and television maybe you’ll finally have a mature relationship with a fellow adult and be able to post wittier remarks like F.U. did
As for Rabble Rabble being an apologist fanboy/girl for Watchmen and all the comic book flicks we’ve had to suffer through lo these many years: “you might very well think that, however I couldn’t possibly comment
”
If I want to watch a film about dystopia with cool art direction, I’ve got Blade Runner on Blu-Ray to keep me company. Why would I need Watchmen?
And yeah as a grown up woman who as a kid liked her some sci-fi films and read a few comics/graphic novels I might read the Watchmen books but the film (or what I’ve seen of it in the trailers) definitely bores me. Not that I want to see Sex & The City or the remake of The Women or other movies targeted at women of a certain age (from the trailers they both looked insipid), but I’m with Nikki (and the horror! because I never agree with him) Harold.
Women are not the target audience here and most of them will only be along either because they’re humoring their significant others or they had to drive the under 16-year old fanboy hoard to the film and babysit them while there.
Hint to Hollywood Make some movies with decent stories that don’t depend upon a comic book/graphic novel for the rest of us okay?
Dark Knight was the perfect storm for movies. First, Batman is a highly bankable franchise, quite possibly the most popular and well-known super hero. Second, Heath Ledger. His name alone got a lot of fringe people into the theatre just to see what the buzz was about. In terms of super hero movies, there will never be another Dark Knight without circumstances out of our control.
That said, I think Watchmen is going to do quite well. It won’t get the teeny-bopper sales, being that it’s rated R. But I do expect a lot of people are going to see it more than once. I know I will. If the movie is packed with as much eye candy as the comics, we’re in for a MASSIVE treat.
I too wonder about this because of the diminished box office of the jonas bros and their sold out shows — I know it wasn’t all of them, but I certainly expected it to do more and i know it did have less screens.
I agree with Harold.
But at the end of the day, who fucking cares how much money these films make?! Do any of us run the studios? No!
I’ll be seeing Watchmen in IMAX on Sunday. Can’t wait.
Comment by NackAttack — March 3, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
Totally agree with you. I do think Watchmen is going to open big only because there hasn’t been any sci-fi/fanboys movie out last few months. The starvation is going to be well-feed this weekend.
I reckon a big opening north 50M is expected for Watchmen. Hopefully the movie will live up to its hype (300 did and is one of my fav still) & Snyder will finally get the respect he so deserved.
As for the comparison with DK’s BO wknd opening and total performance, I think its unfair since DK has its built-in fanbase. Watchmen is an untested material at the cineplex.
Lets just judge Watchmen on its own merits, shall we?
Scuttlebutt-
You are sad and small-minded. And arrogant.
I’m very glad I’m not you.
P.s. You’re praising FU as the apex of comedy, for their bottomless sophistication. You realize he/she just made a ‘Nerds don’t have sex dig.’ Wow. Did you have to graduate from an Ivy League school to develop those impeccable tastes? I really should stop reading comic books, because there are just unknown depths of comedy I’m missing. Get bent.
“When you grow up from comic books”… yes, I’ll be hard-pressed to find a well-written Spider-Man comic, but anyone who insists all graphic novels are immature superheroes with stereotypes and pretty colors is an idiot. Y: The Last Man brings up questions that are every bit as fascinating as anything you can find in a novel… Ex Machina is a brilliant, well-written statement on American politics… Maus and Epileptic are heartbreaking true-life accounts… oh, and for all the snobs out there who claim graphic novels are inferior means of literature, keep in mind that most kids only start reading in the first place because comics are a good way to get them interested.
I’m not denying that the cheap, gawky and geeky comics (And their fans) exist, but well-written things like Watchmen are out there, too, and it doesn’t mean those who enjoy them are nerdy virgins. You spit on Watchmen for its obscurity, but how many people have heard of House of Cards? Come back when you learn that graphic novels aren’t illustrated so ADD-afflicted dorks have something to look at.
I cant see “Watchmen” doing beyond 40 or 50 million dollars. Its longer then ‘Benjamin Buttons,’ doesn’t have any stars, is rated R, and is a comic book movie not from a bankable or known franchise. And women aren’t interested? Put me on the cautiously optimistic list. Sometimes, I can’t quite gauge the public’s taste (Mall Cop.)
Look at those demographics of who’s buying the early tickets… ages 25-30. Sadly, it’s ticketbuyers 17-21 which drive big box office. Top that off with movie “trailers” which don’t even BEGIN to hint at a story, and why on Earth would anyone already not a convert go see this film?
A big opening weekend in the $60 million range as 22 years of fanboys get their fix, falling to $15 million next week as everyone else continues to tune it out.
For the person who cited the runaway success of Superman Returns and Fantastic Four. Keep in mind, both were heavily anticipated, and anticipation results in sales. No one registered if any of those were REPEAT sales, or ENJOYABLE sales. The Sequels really tell in sales how well the first movie did. If anything, opening weekend sales prove how viable a character truly is.
Back in the day, during the pre-Watchmen comic book era many rambunctious, definitely gaudy, naturally young and often scrappy superheroes seemed more concerned with what they could do with their batty careers of donning capes and doing mad cartwheels in open space than what it might mean, knowing only that their heroic intervention with atomic precision might save a haplessly benighted Earth from some murky, grotesque super-villainy.
Emerging from this twitchy sense of humanity, a benevolent god as superhero long ago took that frantic tumble toward otherworldly calamity with disjointed visual details and bubbles of trite dialogue. In print with the jumpiness of comic book panels and heroes prone to soliloquizing, the hilariously hyper-compressed narrative came with unhinged hyperbole, indelible imagery and not so subtle fear of foreigners (or aliens)—recalling that murky, cranky, arrogant genius of “The Claw” rearing its ugly head above Manhattan in a 1941 comic (after burrowing beneath the Atlantic Ocean) to cast its shadow over all. This stuff is pretty Old School, the genre bristling with subtext made vividly unreal.
So when you get right down to it, “Watchmen” (with all due respect to Alan Moore) is not so much a deconstruction of the superhero genre as much as it’s a Phoenix rising (once again) from the primordial ash.