Nobody's Watching the Watchmen!

Graphic novel adaptation's box office numbers nothing to brag about

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

Just five weekends into its theatrical run, and Warner Bros. is already pondering when to pull their comic book "blockbuster" Watchmen from theatres, as it ranked #13 at this weekend's box office race, earning a tepid $1.08 million for a 31-day domestic tally of just $105.35 million. That seems like a lot of money to the average Joe, but for a highly-promoted action movie that cost $120 million to make and had major expectations, it's chump change.

Watchmen is now considered a failure for Warner Bros. (distributed overseas by Paramount), despite pulling in--so far--another $67.27 million internationally, and will rely heavily on DVD/Blu-Ray rentals and sales to reach targeted profits, and perhaps merchandise monies as well. In fact, Watchmen is still two positions back from cracking the Top 20 list of the top-grossing comic book superhero movies (Marvel & DC) of all-time, finally scrapping by 2003's disasterous Daredevil effort ($102.5 million). However, it still remains slightly behind 1997's Batman & Robin ($107.2 million) at No.21, and 1980's Superman II ($108.2 million) at No.20.

It is safe to say that Watchmen will slowly slide past the forgettable Batman & Robin feature, and will come close to Superman II's earnings (which are impressive for a film nearly three decades old), but is unlikely to catch any of the other comic films on the list. Below are the Top 20 highest-earning (domestically) feature films based on comic book superheros/villains by either Marvel or DC Comics, and their North American totals:

1. The Dark Knight (2008)-$533.3M (DC)
2. Spider-Man (2002)-$403.7M (Marvel)
3. Spider-Man 2 (2004)-$373.3M (Marvel)
4. Spider-Man 3 (2007)-$336.5M (Marvel)
5. Iron Man (2008)-$318.3M (Marvel)
6. Batman (1989)-$251.1M (DC)
7. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)-$234.3M (Marvel)
8. X2 (2003)-$214.9M (Marvel)
9. Batman Begins (2005)-$205.3M (DC)
10. Superman Returns (2006)-$200.0M (DC)
11. Batman Forever (1995)-$184.0M (DC)
12. Batman Returns (1992)-$162.8M (DC)
13. X-Men (2000)-$157.2M (Marvel)
14. Fantastic Four (2005)-$154.6M (Marvel)
15. The Incredible Hulk (2008)-$134.5M (Marvel)
16. Superman (1978)-$134.2M (DC)
17. Hulk (2003)-$132.1M (Marvel)
18. 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)-$131.9M (Marvel)
19. Ghost Rider (2007)-$115.8M (Marvel)
20. Superman II (1980)-$108.2M (DC)