Box Office: Watchmen – $25.2M Friday, Possible $62.5M Weekend

“Who is watching the Watchmen?” Just about everyone…or so it seems.

The brand new film adaptation of the classic graphic comic Watchmen is a hit of monstrous proportions on its opening weekend, but not everyone loves it. In fact, not only is there a prominent character named Rorschach (played by Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley), the film itself is serving as a Rohrschach Test for critics, fanboys and the broader public.

First let’s look at the cold hard numbers. As I first reported Friday morning, the midnight preview screenings generated an estimated $4.5M. Contrary to some reports, that is a huge early sale. E! Online reported that the take was merely “decent,” and one analyst speculated that the picture would finish in the $46M-$50M range for the weekend. The article and analyst were off-the-mark.

There was no way for Watchmen to approach the $18.5M midnight start for last summer’s The Dark Knight. First off, it is March and not the middle of summer blockbuster season. Kids have school. People are working. These are not the lazy days of July when it is easier for many to see a movie at midnight on Thursday, and hit the office late on Friday. The other factor is the movie’s rating. This is an R-rated movie, not PG-13 like The Dark Knight.

The Thursday night start for Watchmen was 44% better than the $2.5M midnight shows for director Zack Snyder’s last epic 300 (also rated R). It was also virtually double the $2.3M midnight start for November’s Quantum of Solace (PG-13). Those are much better comparables than The Dark Knight or say last year’s PG-13 rated Twilight, which grabbed a reported $7M midnight preview gross.

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Which Watchmen Character Are You?

I took the quiz! You can too! Read more

Snyder Brings “Watchmen” Sex Scenes To Life On Screen

If you’ve read the original “Watchmen” graphic novel, you know it’s filled with adult language and adult situations–including some very intimate moments between several of our heroes.

As we’ve previously reported, director Zack Snyder has been very faithful in bringing the graphic novel to life.  But one big question on many fans minds may be–how faithful?

Specifically, how is Sndyer handling several intimate scenes from the popular graphic novel?

According to io9, writer Alex Tse said one particularily hot and heavy scene between the second Silk Spectre and the second Nite Owl had to be included and that “”Zack ran with that one.”

“The end result is beautiful and done in a classy manner, it’s really sexy and amazing,” said actress Malin Akerman, who plays the Silk Spectre. “You need to check it out to see if it’s gratuitous or not. I feel like this is such a beautiful scene. And I know you’ll be surprised when I say he’s very respectful, because he’s usually not [Laughs].” Read more

New Watchmen Prison Break Clip

I just finished reading this sequence, then I saw this clip. I know, that’s kind of weird. I like the clip. Nice action. Looking forward to the movie.

Watch the clip. Like it…or don’t like it…

Watchmen opens in theaters on March 6th – directed by Zack Snyder. Graphic Novel written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons.
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New Comics Shipping For The Week Of 1/28/2009

New Comics Shipping For The Week Of 1/28/2009

BATMAN #685
CAPTAIN AMERICA #46
CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #7
DARK TOWER TREACHERY #5 (OF 6)
MARVEL MINIMATES SECRET INVASION BOX SET
STAND CAPTAIN TRIPS #5 (OF 5)
WATCHMEN MOVIE ASST #1 BALANCED CASE ASST

Watchmen Motion Comic Coming to DVD & Blu-ray March 3rd

The Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons critically acclaimed Watchmen graphic novel will come to life on both DVD and Blu-ray on March 3rd, three days before the release of the feature film. The Watchmen Complete Motion Comic will be presented in 12 episodes with the two-disc DVD priced at $29.98 and the Blu-ray priced at $35.99. On top of that you’ll also receive $7.50 that you can apply towards the purchase of your Watchmen movie ticket. Win/Win situation if you ask me!

The DVD and Blue-ray will also come with the following special features.
- Sneak Peek of Wonder Woman DVD.
- $7.50 Movie Cash good towards a movie ticket to Watchmen.
- A “prison break” scene from the Watchmen film (Blu-ray only).

Here’s a portion of the Warner Home Video press release.
Watched any great books lately? Now you can. The most celebrated graphic novel of all time that broke the conventional mold continues to break new ground Watchmen illustrator Dave Gibbons oversees this digital version of the graphic novel that adds limited motion, voice and sound to the books strikingly drawn panels. All 12 chapters of the story are here nearly 5 hours spanning everything from the mysterious demise of the Comedian to the crisscrossed destinies of loosely allied superheroes to their fateful impact on the world. Be in the know. Be watching. With Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic.

Source: ComicNews.info

New Comics Shipping For The Week Of 1/21/2009

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN #7
MAXIMUM RIDE TP VOL 01
SOLOMON KANE #4 (OF 5)
WATCHMEN MOVIE OZYMANDIAS BUST
WATCHMEN MOVIE RORSCHACH BUST
WORLD OF WARCRAFT #15

Warner Brothers and Fox Have Reached a Settlement over Watchmen!

Earlier today, we dared to hope that Fox and Warner Brothers might settle their beef over Watchmen this afternoon. Now, The Hollywood Reporter claims that a settlement has been reached:

Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over Watchmen, with the studios scheduled to present the settlement to Judge Gary Feess on Friday morning and request that the case be dismissed. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed, but it is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film’s box office.

Although Feess originally ruled that Fox retained the rights to at least distribute the film, it will not do so under the terms of the settlement agreement, nor will Fox retain any future rights to the Watchmen property [while Warners issued no comment about the settlement, THR says a Fox spokesman said "no final deal had been reached."]. We’ll see how things play out tomorrow morning, but if everything goes smoothly, it looks like we’ll be able to see Watchmen come March 6th, as we’d always hoped.

With Fox’s lawsuit seemingly over, a number of other questions now emerge. What will become of the relationship between Warner Brothers and producer Larry Gordon? Warners may try to extract reimbursement from Gordon for legal fees incurred during this entire mess. Additionally, with the cost of the film, legal fees, production and marketing, plus the fact that they’re already splitting the distribution of the film with Paramount (and that they co-financed the film with Legendary Pictures), the bigger question is: Will Watchmen be financially successful enough to make it all worth Warner Brothers’ time and money? What do you think?

Source:

/film

Judge Says that Fox Owns Rights to Watchmen

United States District Court judge Gary A. Feess concluded on Wednesday that 20th Century Fox should prevail on crucial issues in their lawsuit with Warner Bros over the rights to the comic book movie adaptation Watchmen.

Feess says that “Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the Watchmen motion picture. The parties may wish to turn their efforts from preparing for trial to negotiating a resolution of this dispute or positioning the case for review.”

What does this mean for the Watchmen film? Well, I’m no lawyer but it basically sounds like Warner Bros does not have any rights to distribute this film. There are several options available for the Warners. They could take this through the appeals courts or negotiate with Fox.

Not to long ago the LA Times ran a piece concerning the case and here was what they thought would wind up happening.
“The more likely outcome is Fox studio chief Tom Rothman or Warners’ head Alan Horn striking some sort of compromise deal in which the studios share the movie’s costs and proceeds. But because Warners already is sharing the portion of the film it didn’t sell to Paramount with financing partner Legendary Pictures, the studio doesn’t have that much to divvy up.”

I think a deal get’s done. Will Watchmen keep it’s March release date? That I am not certain of but it doesn’t look promising.

Source: ComicNews.info

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