Prophecy: Watchmen

By BOP Staff

December 11, 2008

BOP believes Zach Snyder has gotten this one perfect.

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Pete Kilmer: Craig, I would say that this now considered a graphic novel. It's been in print for over 20 years as a graphic novel and that's how a lot of people know it. But you can still call it a miniseries. There is no wrong answer on that question.

James Wood: It's just one data point, but I have yet to see any of the Watchmen trailers get any reaction at all in any of the screenings I've been in where it played. There's been nothing but silence throughout and following - probably three or four times now. I'm not sure what it means, but I don't think it's good.

And I just want to point out that there were definitely reactions to other trailers. For Star Trek, for example, it got a smattering of applause.

I really think that if you don't know what Watchmen is, it looks kind of goofy in a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen kind of way.




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Scott Lumley: That first trailer - the one with the Smashing Pumpkins song - had me cheering.

The second one, with Rorshach growling all the way through the trailer, has me going, "Uh oh... this isn't good." It still looks great, but wow that is some brutal dialogue.

James Wood: My wife asked if it was "Christian Bale Batman" speaking.

Walid Habboub: It was a good first trailer, but an average and slightly puzzling second trailer.

I'm starting to think fanboys will see this and no one else. Its cross-over appeal is dangling by a thread; some would say it never existed (yeah, the "some" is me).

Daron Aldridge: I guess I am just another brick in the uninitiated wall. I haven't read the source material but have been convincingly encouraged to pick it up. Just to find it. Speaking as the "average Joe" as Jim labeled us, I am compelled to see Watchmen at the theater after watching both trailers, but my tastes do typically lean toward this genre, regardless of familiarity. I am simply not convinced that this one can really break out to the level that Snyder's other March, graphic novel adaptation, 300, did. Crossover appeal is not always guaranteed because of a slick trailer that introduces the story nicely.

My reflex is that Watchmen will pull a bit more than Hellboy 2's opening numbers with $40 million but have better legs to end with almost $150 million, if the end product's quality lives up to expectations. Right now, I am 0 for 2 for the High School Musical 3 and Twilight prophecies. I overestimated the Disney product and drastically undersold Twilight, which matched my total opening prediction in one day. So, let's try a new approach and go in the opposite direction of my gut. Watchmen will mimic 300's performance with $65 to $70 million and end up with nearly $225 million.


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