Who Watches The WATCHMEN...?

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » March 15th, 2009, 10:22 pm

Yeah, well,

I could say I TOLD YOU SO about Watchmen's limited audience appeal!

As for Sin City 2, it'll do okay as long as they keep production costs down and don't have to pay all the major stars more than a few million. It's still a film with a limited fanbase.

It's ridiculous when they get into paying people $20 million or more a picture. Nobody's worth that!

Watchmen, without big stars, is rumored to have cost WB at least $200 million in marketing and production. They still have to pay Fox a slice of the film's receipts, too. It will be lucky to gross $100 million in the US, perhaps $150-$160million worldwide gross. It won't begin to break even for perhaps a few years, maybe after the home video release if the producers are lucky.

All along, I've felt the studios and producers have let production and major cast salaries get way out of whack with reality. They just don't understand the economics of film-making. We shouldn't be having $200 million-budgeted films to begin with. So few of them make money in first release what with all the creditors, studio chains, people involved in production that have to be paid first any profit is made. This system does not make sense at all!

Post by **droosan** » March 16th, 2009, 2:54 pm

No Hollywood film ever makes a profit. Ever. 'Creative Accounting' makes certain of that.

----------------------------

I finally saw Watchmen last night. I loved it.

I'd read the graphic novel back when it was first published as a trade paperback, in 1987 (I still have it, tucked away in a comic-book box somewhere). I'd re-read it several times during my college years, but I hadn't returned to it since about 1992, or so.

Consequently, I had 'forgotten' enough about the specifics of the story to be 'surprised' by some events in the movie .. while simultaneously feeling a rush of 'familiarity' with everything I was seeing. It was a strange, but very cool, experience.

I'm aware that quite a bit is missing (after all, Rorschach's back-story and Dr. Manhattan's conversation with Laurie each take up an entire issue of the series) .. but most of the 'important' details are there (far more than I had thought could fit into a ~3 hour running time) .. and I'm certain the 'extended' DVD version will only be better, in this regard.

I'm also aware that a few things had been changed (Rorschach's ultimate 'solution' during his origin story, and the entire thrust of the climax), but IMO, the film gets so much of the story 'right' -- and the changes (that I'd noticed) are very much 'in character' with the story from the book -- so, I wasn't much bothered by them.

I definitely want to see it again, just to absorb more of the small details which I'm certain I'd missed.

Post by **Whippet Angel** » March 18th, 2009, 1:31 am

Finally caught this today. I really enjoyed it!
Though I was having the same thoughts as Vernadyn as I watched it (it seemed a bit jumpy to me as well, and I wondered how much those unfamiliar with the story would actually "get").

I thought the film was cast very well. Rorschach was my favorite character from the novel, and he was PERFECT in the film.

On a side note, I'm also very glad that they changed Sally Jupiter's hairstyle for the film. The short bob works much better for her than that dreadful mullet.

Post by **Ben** » March 18th, 2009, 12:07 pm

Although that awful aged makeup job certainly didn't help!

How icky that's going to look in HD, as if the print I saw wasn't bad enough.

That was the thing with Watchmen...when it worked it worked very very well, but when it didn't, the cracks showed through big time. There were some amazingly "real" moments and some terrifically "fake" moments.

Post by **Dacey** » March 18th, 2009, 6:11 pm

You're right on the button about the makeup there.

I was so freaking distracted by it that I sometimes had a hard time paying attention to those scenes. The wig was so dang obvious!

Post by **Rosengeist** » March 18th, 2009, 8:53 pm

I have not seen the film yet, only clips. Still I wanted to throw my two cents in about the make-up for the elder Sally Jupiter.

I think honestly the biggest problem with it is that it just doesn't make chronological sense. I don't buy that she is meant to be as old as she is. If she were meant to be a really warn-out woman in her 50's I might be a little more willing to believe in the make-up.

I can't help but feel that the skin just looks too plump. There isn't really any kind of sagging or weight. There's wrinkling, but that's just not enough to sell that cahracters appropriate age to me.

Post by **Dacey** » March 22nd, 2009, 12:00 pm

Things just keep getting worse for this movie:

http://boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/

Post by **Macaluso** » March 22nd, 2009, 12:27 pm

I Love You, Man was really really funny

Post by **Ben** » March 24th, 2009, 3:29 pm

Good that Watchmen will break $100m, which means it's a "disappointment" but not a flop...it'll recoup a similar amount worldwide and double its earnings on home video. Not even the moderate super smash WB were hoping for, but not the crash and burn of Speed Racer.

Of the other movies, nice to see Coraline make it over $70m, and great for Clint's Gran Torino, an <I>excellent</I> movie that I caught the other night. Go see!

Haha...no Pink Panther 3, me thinks...

Post by **Once Upon A Dream** » March 25th, 2009, 8:58 am

How is this movie? I wonder if I should see it.

Post by **Ben** » March 25th, 2009, 11:57 am

Once, your sig is too big (again)...

Post by **Rodney** » March 25th, 2009, 7:02 pm

I finally caught this over the weekend. I liked it, but found it a bit gratuitous at times (with the violence). It's not my favorite, and I of course loved the book much more than this. The ending worked for me and I understood why it differed from the book. Overall, a good job. Not excellent, but good.

Post by **Randall** » April 9th, 2009, 9:41 am

Our Black Freighter review is up:

http://animated-views.com/2009/watchmen ... r-blu-ray/

Very nice disc, though obviously mostly for Watchmen fans.

Post by **Dacey** » April 10th, 2009, 6:08 pm

OMG, that sounds *very* tempting. Especially with all the Hollis Mason stuff.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » May 11th, 2009, 9:49 am

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/050911-WatchmenDVD.html

Exact release date has not been announced, but it's going to be July 21st or July 28th...

The Director's cuts will release on the same day as the regular editions.

Not a big surprise to me since this had already been announced in Advance Comics with a bunch of other early summer movies (May releases) but without an exact release date.

Who Watches The WATCHMEN...?

Watchmen DVDs and Blu rays being released in July...