Box Office Roundup: Watchmen takes in $55.7 million

The Watchmen stormed into the theaters with a respectable, but not great, $55.7 million take this weekend. With its 163 minute running time, the film had a smaller than normal number of showings, handicapping it a bit. Most analysts has pegged the film to fall anywhere from $65-55 million, so the final number is in the low range of expectations. Reviews have been mixed – some really wonderful, some downright bad.

In other news, the big surprise is how far the Jonas Brothers fell – all the way to 9th – with less than $3 million at the box office. Taken continues to perform well, with legs that most films would kill for. Madea, Slumdog and Paul Blart round out the top five. Blart, Coraline and He’s Just Not That Into You are winding down their box office runs. Paul Blart, along with Slumdog, Madea, Taken and He’s Just Not That Into You will all likely hit the $100 million mark (He’s Just Not That Into You may not, but it’ll get to $90 million), and all are solid to great hits since they weren’t big budget productions.

Back to Watchmen – the future will in interesting. Will people come back for more? Will word of mouth bring in the curious? Personally, we don’t think the film will have the legs to be a big hit. It cost $150 million to make, and marketing costs are reportedly more than $60 million. With overseas revenues, the film will likely make its money back, but there are serious doubts if this will be a certified hit.

Finally, next week watch for Race to Witch Mountain and Last House on the Left. If Race to Witch Mountain gets solid reviews and word of mouth, it could be the next big hit.

Here’s this week’s numbers:

Watchmen – $55.7M – $55.7M
Madea Goes to Jail – $8.8M – $76.5M
Taken – $7.45M – $118M
Slumdog Millionaire – $6.92M – $125M
Paul Blart: Mall Cop – $4.2M – $134M
He’s Just Not That Into You – $4.02M – $84.6M
Coraline – $3.31M – $65.7M
Confessions of a Shopaholic – $3.12M – $38.4M
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience – $2.79M – $16.8M
Fired Up! – $2.6M – $13.4M

Watchmen a Box Office Flop?

Yikes. Only 55 mil. It cost 60 million to market. Even the anti-Watchmen pundits thought it’d come in around 62 million. Let the navel gazing to begin. We do think that WB will make their money back on DVD, special editions, download, and PPV… First, though, I think it was a weak cast. A few A-Listers would’ve helped bring people in — and perhaps be better performers. Secondly, they were selling this as the X-Men. It’s Alan freakin’ Moore — not Stan Lee. I’m sure the Mall people felt a bit screwed leaving the theater — creating a negative word of mouth. Sure, the fan boys came out on the opening day, but watch the box office drop even more next week.

Watchmen,” an unorthodox superhero movie that took two decades to reach the big screen, took the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office in North America on Sunday, but fell a little short of expectations.

- from Reuters

New this week in theaters: Watchmen

There’s only one new film in wide release, the much-anticipated Watchmen. Expect it to clean up, with holdovers Madea, Slumdog Millionaire and the Jonas Brothers following in its wake (in that order, we predict). Taken, He’s Just Not That Into You and Paul Blart should continue taking in $4-5 million. Coraline may as well, but its 50%+ drop probably indicates that it’s days are coming to a close. Predictions on Watchmen are as high as $70 million – after that is anyone’s guess.

Watchmen - this adaptation from the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel is falling all over the spectrum with regards to reviews. Most are praising its vision and style, but as for story, it’s a mixed bag. This is not a Dark Knight-type film, and the casual viewer will likely come away a bit disappointed in the whole affair. Fans of the graphic novel will probably appreciate the film. Most know that the challenge it is to bring something like this to the screen and will be forgiving. Still, expect lots of diverging opinions on the film (as we are seeing from critics).