Film ON AIR

Watch Watchmen Worldwide Box Office

Transcript:

After last week’s predictions of a $70 million weekend, I’m a little disappointed with Watchmen’s opening numbers.

In the US, Taken came in at the third place with 7.5 million. Madea Goes to Jail did another 8.8 million. And Watchmen made the first place with 55.6 million. That’s not the 70 million most expected last week. And it isn’t the 60 million plus everybody expected at the beginning of the weekend. It looks like Watchmen is suffering from the mixed reviews.

Zack Snyder’s previous hit, 300, did 71 million in its first weekend and it only cost 65 million. While Watchmen’s budget is rumored to be as high as 150 million.

Overseas, it wasn’t the 40 million I talked about earlier this weekend either. At the third place Marley and Me opened with 8.2 million. Gran Torino did 12 million. And at the first place, Watchmen with 27.5 million.

So that’s a worldwide total of 83 million. Not bad, but not a great performance when you have no competition. Worldwide, both Gran Torino and Marley and Me are closing in on 200 million. Especially an impressive number for the rather low profile Gran Torino.

Watch the Up intro

Watch the new Up trailer

Transcript:

Public Enemies, Terminator, Harry Potter, Star Trek, it’s like summer blockbuster trailer week here at Film on air. And today another new trailer hit the net. Pixar’s Up.

I’m not as hyped for it as I was for Wall-E, but this movie is starting to look better and better. Several bloggers saw 45 minutes of the movie at a screening and all of them seem to agree it was great. And I’ll trust them on their word.

Watch Box Office: first Watchmen numbers

Transcript:

Warner Bros owns it, Paramount does the overseas distribution and Fox gets a percentage after a legal battle. Needless to say, Hollywood wants Watchmen to do well this weekend. And it is. Friday’s box office numbers indicate a strong opening for this year’s first blockbuster.

Watchmen was able to pull in $25 million at the box office this Friday. That’s not just a good opening for any picture, it’s a great opening for an R-rated picture. This means Watchmen will end the weekend with around $60 million.

Now this doesn’t mean it’s a major hit yet. The movie might be front-loaded, with fanboys filling the theaters the first weekend. And the movie practically doesn’t have any competition.

But with its tremendous marketing push and no big releases the coming weeks, there’s no question this movie will recoup its losses in no time. With a possible $40 million overseas, the movie might stand at a worldwide total of $100 million on Monday. But I’ll have more on that when the final numbers are in.

Watch the Watchmen Review

Transcript:

Here’s my review of Watchmen. I won’t spoil more than some general ideas in the movie, so I’d say it’s safe to watch this small review before going to see the movie.

The Story

The Watchmen story is a complex one. As someone who never read the comics, it takes a couple of minutes to get into it. You can easily tell there was a lot of source material, and this is one of the weaknesses of the movie. They compressed so much story into one little movie. But if you get into it. You could say Zack Snyder filmed the story many deemed unfilmable. In the end, it all makes sense and it’s one of the reasons this movie deserves a second view.

The World

Another reason why the movie takes some time to get into is the Watchmen timeframe. The Watchmen live through the history we already know. They’re placed in historical events we know all about. In the beginning your mind is like. Well, that didn’t happen. And it takes a while to get over it. But once you do, the stylistic world is one on its own. A beautiful grim look with the comic book feel to it. But this comic book feel doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take this movie serious.

The Characters

This isn’t a movie for kids. It’s one where the characters philosophize about mankind throughout the entire movie. About the darkness of human nature. Most of the Watchmen don’t seem to have much fate in mankind. And here’s another reason it takes some time to get into. There are so many Watchmen, who all have something to say. And they barely have enough time to do so. I have no question the extended version of the movie will add to the experience. 2 hours and 40 minutes is just enough to tell the story.

Special Effects

To be honest, there aren’t any special effects that’ll blow your mind. There are a lot of slow-motion shots in the movie, naturally, but after movies like Max Payne it feels like we’ve seen them all. The movie does a better job at blending it all together. The money shots are in there, but they aren’t in your face like ‘hey, look at my 1 million dollar CGI shot.’

IMAX

This is why I’d say it’s worth seeing in IMAX. The big screen and sound add enough to the experience to justify the price. IMAX makes you step into the Watchmen world with your full body. O god, that’s like a line written by the IMAX marketing department.

The Verdict

For my first review, this was a difficult movie to rate. Most of the time I have my judgment ready right after the movie, but this is a movie that’ll take some time to digest. I’ll definitely watch it a second time and I’ll recommend it to most people. Just don’t expect an easy to swallow blockbuster. Focus!

4 out of 5 stars.