Is 'Watchmen' the Next '300'? – Take Two
Another look at the same question with a different approach
Photo: Warner Bros.
When I brought up an article idea with David with the question, "Do you think Watchmen will be the next 300?" I didn't elaborate any more than the question alone. I asked if he thought it was an article he thought he could tackle and he was up for it. He was as you can read here.
Now, one of the reasons I don't have a lot of writers on this site, despite having a "Write for RopeofSilicon" link at the bottom of every page is that I like my opinion and while I welcome arguments I like to make sure my opinion is clearly stated. This had me wondering if I should give David a ring and explain what I meant by the question and what angle I wanted him to take. I decided against that since having someone write about really would have been more my opinion than theirs would be silly. Luckily, David didn't take the same direction on the question I would have gone and now we have dueling editorials. Which one is right? That is up to you.
David approached the question from a "yes" or "no" opinion and while he offered up ways Watchmen may loosely be like 300 his ultimate verdict was "no". However, on top of taking that angle at the question he also approached it from a creative aspect whereas I was actually wondering about it from more of a business and audience perspective. I was motivated by the idea that in 2006 virtually no one was talking about 300 until its impressive debut at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con. I had mentioned it a couple of times noting the casting of Gerard Butler and Lena Heady as well as an article announcing the launch of the official site. At that time, and up until Comic Con no one was anticipating the film would end up making $70.9 million on opening weekend, especially in March, and ultimately take in over $210 million domestically and more than $450 million worldwide.
300 came out of nowhere and it had a lasting impression. With Watchmen coming from the same director, the same studio and releasing only three days shy of 300's second anniversary I can't help but wonder how the two will compare. They do, however, have drastically different upbringings.
As I have said, 300 pretty much came out of nowhere. It's safe to assume the impact Sin City had on fanboys was good reason for Warner Bros. to move on another Frank Miller adaptation, especially considering Sin City managed almost $75 million at the box-office on a budget of $40 million. 300 was made for $65 million and that extra $25 million certainly paid off.
In comparison I have read reports the budget on Watchmen is in the range of $100 million, a number I am assuming Watchmen will hit at the box-office, but my question is whether or not it will be able to become the box-office star 300 ended up being.
Warner Bros. is already planning on several DVD/Blu-ray versions of the film and on top of the production budget for the film there are also marketing costs and so forth. Hell, Summit spent a rumored $60 million on the marketing of Twilight, a book everyone and their mother has now heard of. What will Warner Bros. need to do to promote a film based on an acclaimed, but relatively little known, graphic novel in an effort to convince audiences to see it?
We can talk dollars all day long, but the next hurdle will be the audience themselves. 300 was an action packed brawl filled with half-naked men, nudity and CG blood galore. It was an ultra violent film that actually managed to earn female audience members thanks to the lack of clothing and ripped abdominals. There was a little something for everyone in 300 and the violence was stylized enough to the point female moviegoers could enjoy the man meat while their boyfriends and husbands enjoyed the slaughter. Watchmen, if done right, will not be able to claim the same demographic.
Watchmen is not an action packed superhero movie. Sure, it has its action set pieces and it has some outlandish violence, but when I brought up the question to Snyder at Comic Con he realizes it's a drama more than anything else. He told me:
Yeah, it's a drama. I always say to marketing, "You can show all the action. You want to show all the action it's awesome." Because in a normal comic book movie if you show all the action there's nothing else to show, you've run out of stuff. With "Watchmen" I don't feel that way at all and I feel now, as the campaign starts to amp up for what the movie is, and with the help of you guys, I think that's the process – you can't take "Watchmen" to pop culture, you have to bring them to the movie. For instance, if I made a version of "Watchmen" which was easily understandable by mass culture it wouldn't be the book, it wouldn't be "Watchmen". In that way, I think when people see it and they're like, "What the fuck is that?" I think that's right, that's the right step.
So, when I ask will Watchmen be the next 300 the answer most certainly is "No." So does that mean it shouldn't expect similar box-office returns?
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