What do you think? Could it have made more money if it came out in the summer?
Could WATCHMEN have made more $ if released in the summer?
- Thread starter miraclefan
- Start date
No, it would have done worse.
People don't like thinking too much in the summer. A movie like Watchmen would have done even poorer than it actually did if put up against something like Transformers.
People don't like thinking too much in the summer. A movie like Watchmen would have done even poorer than it actually did if put up against something like Transformers.
I don't think so. It was an interesting concept, but very much a niche film.
The other problem is that the length of 'Watchmen' made it difficult for theaters to show it that many times per day.
I agree with you there!
It would have gotten slaughtered. It has less brand recognition than big names like "X-Men", "Star Trek" and "Transformers". I'm glad they released it pre-summer rush so at least it got to make some money.
I think it would have done about the same business. The trailer certainly sold the concept for me, and the fans of the graphic novel would have turned out in droves any time of the year. In the summer, just as in the spring, the reviews still would have been bad and the movie would still be too long to show as many times per day. And then there would have still been a massive drop off in ticket sales in week two as a result. SSDD.
Who cares? It was a good movie. One of the best I've seen released in a while and probably one of the best of 2009. How much money it did or didn't make makes no difference to me.
Who knows? But I wouldn't think so. The repeat business from teens/young adults that the summer grosses are built on, likely wouldn't work with a 3 hour adult film in a marketplace stuffed with crowd-pleasers. It looks like they tried to repeat the 300 model - they were both released in early March - and give this film a wide berth from similar competition.
It matters to me because when a compelling, thought-provoking big budget film like Watchmen doesn't do very well, the studios are far less likely to risk making a similarly challenging film. That's why the theaters are cluttered with crap like Charlie's Angels 5 and More Super Fast, More Super Furious.
That said, I remain utterly baffled why the studios thought Watchmen would be a big moneymaker in the first place. It's very much a cult/niche property and not very accessible at all to general audiences. I mean, I loved the film, but I can see why the average moviegoer who was expecting something like Iron Man or the X-Men movies hated it.
Interesting question. I think it would have, if only because it could have capitalized off of other summer blockbusters and been seen as an alternative for people who have seen what is already out.What do you think? Could it have made more money if it came out in the summer?
Studios really do confuse me with the apparent lack of business planning. I mean, I don't claim to know about all of the factors inherent in deciding on a movie release date, but it always confuses me when a big scifi/action flick is released in spring/fall to meager box office return despite being a great film (Serenity, for one). Not that such films don't fail in the summer, but even the really bad films do good in that season because that is when the target demographic is out en mass watching movies every weekend.
People seem to forget that just because it's a "superhero movie" it shouldn't be put in the same bracket as family friendly guff like Spider-Man, Fantastic 4, Transformers, etc
Films where mummy & daddy can take all the kiddies to see during the summer months while their on school hols and get them to shut up for 2 hours.
Watchmen is not that sort of film; it's a film for adults. 18 rated in the UK, I'm guessing R rating in the US? Films like that are never gonna compete with the likes of family summer fluff
Films where mummy & daddy can take all the kiddies to see during the summer months while their on school hols and get them to shut up for 2 hours.
Watchmen is not that sort of film; it's a film for adults. 18 rated in the UK, I'm guessing R rating in the US? Films like that are never gonna compete with the likes of family summer fluff
WOW!
That pretty much sums up my views on the whole thing.
Obviously I agree but, for the purposes of this thread, I will say that the movie would have faired no better as a summer release. Possibly worse. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, for example, would likely have killed it.
darkwing_duck1
Vice Admiral
I think the studio wanted to make a superhero film and went shopping for an "unknown" title they thought they could franchise into the next Iron Man or X-Men while getting the rights on the relative cheap (more money for THEM that way, after all).
With "Watchmen" meeting those two criteria, as well as having "good buzz" as a comic, the studio didn't look beyond the surface to see a VERY different type of "capes and tights" movie than Joe and Jane Buttsintheseats was likely to go for.
No - it is a very mature alternate-universe science fiction film. The studio behind it should not have expected it to have the more wide-spread audience appeal of a PG-rated feel-good superhero movie.
A better release time might have been during winter or fall when the more adult-orientated kinds of films hit the theaters.
And again, 'Watchmen' is not the standard 'good-guys-win-all-the-time' super hero film. It was never supposed to be like a Superman story. Summer is the time for those kinds of films because the kids are out of school so to speak. And I am still confused as to why some people - especially those who did see 'Watchmen' - slam it because of that. 'Watchmen' is not nor ever was supposed to be that kind of movie.
A better release time might have been during winter or fall when the more adult-orientated kinds of films hit the theaters.
And again, 'Watchmen' is not the standard 'good-guys-win-all-the-time' super hero film. It was never supposed to be like a Superman story. Summer is the time for those kinds of films because the kids are out of school so to speak. And I am still confused as to why some people - especially those who did see 'Watchmen' - slam it because of that. 'Watchmen' is not nor ever was supposed to be that kind of movie.
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