Commenting Rules: Keep the conversation civil and on topic. If your comment does not add to the conversation, it will be removed. Debate intelligently. Insulting the author, /Film, or other commenters will result in comment removal and possible ban. If you want to point out a typo, correction, suggestion or criticism for /Film, please email us instead. Please use your name or nickname and not your business name (ie Discount Car Parts) as we might confuse and mark it as spam. If you would like to have your own Avatar show up with your comment, sign-up for a free Disqus account. Any Links will go into moderation before being approved. Anything we deem as spam will not be approved.

Box Office: Watchmen Plummets 71%! The Rock leads Race to Witch Mountain to $25M Opening

Posted on Friday, March 13th, 2009 by Steve Mason

stormtroopers witch mountain

As Watchmen (Warner Bros) falls, “The Rock” appears to be racing to a weekend win. Disney’s Race To Witch Mountain, starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is off to a solid start with $7.2M or so on opening day, and, with its expected surge in family matinee audiences on Saturday and Sunday, it will likely triumph with a possible $25M.

Meanwhile last weekend’s winner Watchmen staggered to a second Friday of only $5.2M or so, and I am projecting only $15.75M for the 3-day. That marks a 71% drop. Anything over $20M would have been acceptable, but the bottom has fallen out of this movie, and it will now struggle to reach $100M domestic. When the foreign and DVD are added, it may make a small profit, but it will likely be negligible. The superstitious might suggest that Watchmen writer Alan Moore’s alleged curse may be to blame, but the reality is that word-of-mouth has been more negative than for any movie in recent memory.

For Johnson, Race To Witch Mountain marks his all-time #5 opening and his third-best as a lead (trailing The Scorpion King and 2007’s The Game Plan).

ALL-TIME TOP 5 DWAYNE JOHNSON OPENINGS
- not counting his cameo in The Mummy Returns -
1. Get Smart - $38.6M opening
2. The Scorpion King - $36M opening
3. Be Cool - $23.4M opening
4. The Game Plan - $22.95M opening
5. Race To Witch Mountain - $22.7M opening (projected)

The movie industry has a great tradition when it comes to professional wrestlers in feature films. Lenny Montana played the small but pivotal role of Luca Brasi in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 Best Picture winner The Godfather and Andre the Giant had a memorable turn in the classic The Princess Bride in 1987, but Johnson is easily the most bankable wrestler-turned-actor of all time.

ALL-TIME TOP 30 GROSSING MOVIES THAT FEATURE A PRO WRESTLER
- ranked by total domestic box office -
1. The Mummy Returns – Dwayne Johnson - $68.1M opening - $202M cume
2. The Longest Yard - Steve Austin, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, The Great Khali - $47.6M opening - $158.1M cume
3. X-Men - Tyler Mayne - $54.4M opening - $157.3M cume
4. The Godfather – Lenny Montana - $300K opening - $135M cume
5. Troy - Tyler Mayne - $46.8M opening - $133.4M cume
6. Get Smart - $38.6M opening – Dwayne Johnson - $130.3M cume
7. Rocky III - Hulk Hogan - $12.4M opening - $125M cume
8. The Scorpion King - Dwayne Johnson - $36M opening - $91M cume
9. The Game Plan - $22.95M opening – Dwayne Johnson - $90.6M cume
10. Predator - Jesse Ventura - $12M opening - $59.7M cume
11. Halloween (2007) - Tyler Mayne - $26.3M opening - $58.2M cume
12. Be Cool - $23.4M – Dwayne Johnson - opening - $56M cume
13. Blade: Trinity - Triple H - $16M opening - $52.4M cume
14. The Rundown – Dwayne Johnson - $18.5M opening - $47.7M cume
15. Walking Tall – Dwayne Johnson - $15.5M opening - $46.4M cume
16. Gridiron Gang – Dwayne Johnson - $14.4M opening - $38.4M cume
17. The Running Man - Jesse Ventura - $8.1M opening - $38.1M cume
18. The Punisher - Kevin Nash - $13.8M opening - $33.8M cume
19. The Princess Bride - Andre the Giant - $4.4M opening - $30.8M cume
20. Doom – Dwayne Johnson - $35.5M opening - $28.2M cume
21. Spy Hard - Hulk Hogan - $10.4M opening - $27M cume
22. Grindhouse – Vladimir Kozlov - $11.6M opening - $25M cume
23. The Marine - John Cena - $7.1M opening - $18.8M cume
24. No Holds Barred - Hulk Hogan - $5M opening - $16.1M cume
25. Over the Top - Terry Funk - $5.1M opening - $16M cume
26. See No Evil – Kane - $4.5M opening - $15M cume
27. The Comebacks - Stacey Keibler - $5.5M opening - $13.4M cume
28. They Live - Roddy Piper - $4.8M opening - $13M cume
29. The Condemned - Steve Austin - $3.8M opening - $7.3M cume
30. Ed Wood - George Steele - $1.9M opening - $5.9M cume

If Witch Mountain plays out like The Rock’s last family movie The Game Plan, the picture could reach $95M in the US.

Wes Craven’s The Last House On the Left (Universal), a remake of his own 1972 seminal classic, has met industry expectations with an opening day of $5.3M or so (actually ahead of Watchmen). The tightly-budgeted, R-rated genre pic will wrap up the weekend at #3 with a likely $14M or so.

Luc Besson’s mega-hit Taken (Fox) is headed for a dip of only 17% for an impressive $6.1M, good for fourth-place and a new cume of $126.28M. Tyler Perry’s biggest hit ever, Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate), will round out the weekend top five with about $5M pushing its domestic gross to $83M.

The other wide release is Miss March (Fox Searchlight), which had straight-to-video written all over it. The movie managed only $750K from 1,742 playdates Friday, and it will crawl to a meager $2M 3-day, barely cracking the weekend top ten.

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY FRIDAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Race to Witch Mountain (Disney) - $6.5M, $2,040 PTA, $6.5M cume
2. NEW – The Last House on the Left (Universal) - $5.3M, $2,207 PTA, $5.3M cume
3. Watchmen (Warner Bros) - $5.2M, $1,440 PTA, $73.13M cume
4. Taken (Fox) - $1.9M, $665 PTA, $122.08M cume
5. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate) - $1.45M, $658 PTA, $79.52M cume
6. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) - $1.35M, $524 PTA, $128.95M cume
7. NEW – Miss March (Fox Searchlight) - $750,000, $431 PTA, $750,000 cume
8. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) - $700,000, $307 PTA, $135.36M cume
9. He’s Just Not That Into You (Warner Bros) - $650,000, $344 PTA, $86.74M cume
10. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Disney) - $600,000, $377 PTA, $39.95M cume

EXCLUSIVE STEVE MASON EARLY 3-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW – Race to Witch Mountain (Disney) - $25M, $7,844 PTA, $25M cume
2. Watchmen (Warner Bros) - $15.75M, $4,362 PTA, $83.68M cume
3. NEW – The Last House on the Left (Universal) - $14M, $5,831 PTA, $14M cume
4. Taken (Fox) - $6.1M, $2,134 PTA, $126.28M cume
5. Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes To Jail (Lionsgate) - $5M, $2,271 PTA, $83.08M cume
6. Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight) - $4.65M, $1,807 PTA, $132.25M cume
7. Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Sony) - $2.59M, $1,135 PTA, $137.25M cume
8. He’s Just Not That Into You (Warner Bros) - $2.08M, $1,101 PTA, $88.17M cume
9. Coraline (Focus) - $2.07M, $1,174 PTA, $68.59M cume
10. NEW – Miss March (Fox Searchlight) - $2M, $1,148 PTA, $2M cume

Comments 

Related Posts

Tags

Box Office, ,

  • VsTheWorld
    Hopefully Snyder and company learn a harsh lesson from this...

    The Watchmen isn't failing at the box office because audiences are too ignorant to comprehend this (though this is often the case). With its psuedo-intellectual blather that could only be called a parody of the source material married with absurd over-the-top violence and sex, the movie actually fails to properly appeal to either the intellectual or typical movie-goer.

    tl;dr: This movie isn't failing because of its "intelligent" nature, it's failing because it's bad, indecisive filmmaking.
  • completely agree with vs the world
  • Rob
    Agree with both; I wanted so much for it to be a great adaptation, but Watchmen did not translate from page to screen, because it is a comic that genuinely makes fullest use of the medium - and when used properly, it is an entirely different medium to film. *Some* aspects of the film were terrible, imo, and compromised; but mostly I felt it was that it simply was not translating.

    Almost everyone I know who has seen it has the comics or the TPB, and was disappointed by it. It was also obvious from the comments overheard as we left the cinema that many other filmgoers - who plainly didn't know the comic - didn't really get it, or just thought it was awful and not a "superhero" flick.

    In my opinion, this has nothing to do with hating, fanboyism (who has time for that if they actually go to work and have a life?), or even the "average" filmgoer's need for spoonfeeding and neatly defined genres; for all the good intentions, Watchmen does not work as a film.
  • RWF
    Seriously... I have heard from SO many people "It just can't be made into a film, it doesn't translate, its indecisive filmmaking, I read the comic and it doesn't make sense as a film, but it definitely does in the comic, blah blah blah blah blah". Seriously people, I haven't read one single shred of actual REASON for any of this. You all just throw out these assumptions and accusations that have become popular and go along with it and think that you know a thing or two about making a film.

    PLEASE! For the love of god, someone please give me some kind of evidence to back up these accusations. Because, (not to say I'm more qualified than anyone else at all) I have read the comics a few times, and I thought the film was a great interpretation. The comic was basically used as storyboards for the movie, which is so clearly obvious when you look at the cinematography and the composition of many shots and scenes. The sex scene was not over the top, it was exactly in line with the comic. And as far as violence, the book was violent, probably more violent than the movie.

    There were some things I would've liked to see, like focus on the newpaper vendor, but I'm psyched he was actually in it! That was awesome!

    All and all, it was a great film and an awesome adaptation of an amazing book. Everyone get the fuck off the bandwagon of hating Watchmen and open your eyes.
  • ejs
    right on rwf. the film was brilliant and criminally misunderstood by even the fanboys. the reason this movie is failing isnt because it didnt deliver, its because its not easy entertainment. challenging films simply don't make much money, ie. Fight Club.

    watchmen absolutely holds as a film. the character work is second to none as far as sci-fi/comic movies go, the craft of the film is stunning with some of the best fight choreography seen recently, and its dealing with themes that are hard to grasp, but done with great detail and clarity. this is one of the greatest achievements in the past 20 years, and won't get its due for many years. the great ones usually dont.

    my bet is the people badmouthing watchmen now will have a change of heart as soon as they see it a few more times and catch all the subtext, and youll even agree that the musical choices were almost perfect.

    you just cant make a movie the lays out the all the dirty laundry of human nature and expect 1. people to like it 2. make some serious cash.
  • I agree. Watchmen was a great movie. It's a shame it's not hitting it big at the box office this weekend.
  • darryl zero
    Watchmen is very filmable, but Snyder's a hack who's only good at making things look interesting. He can't direct actors, and has no real storytelling flair for anything other than the most basic concepts only mouthbreathers would consider sophisticated--which is why "300" worked so well for him (idiotic comic, idiotic film).

    I freely hate on Watchmen (the film) because it's the cinematic equivalent of one pound of ice cream plus five pounds of shit...otherwise known as six pounds of shit.
  • edog
    Maybe because it takes about 10 to 20 hours to read, versus 3 hours of movie time. Also, the book has three distinct layers of storytelling (comic narrative, comic-within-a-comic narrative, and backstory via "Behind the Mask" and other faux-source material).

    This is hardly the first award-winning, best selling novel (graphic or otherwise) that failed to translate to film. In fact, many of our bestselling and well-rated books make poorly-received movies ("Angela's Ashes" "The Kite Runner" come immediately to mind).

    Just accept that some stories are better told in some media and not others.
  • /filmluvsdan
    yeah this argument really stands up after 300.
  • Joe
    I've seen the movie twice now (free tickets for last night's repeat viewing) and, well, it's just too brutal and needlessly violent and over-the-top in some areas. To call it a bad movie is going too far, but there's definitely a large gap between Watchmen fans' expectations and the general public's.

    I was wincing at scenes that didn't seem as bad the first time.
  • Totally agree with VsTheWorld only fanboysm can make your comment go -11.
  • it's failing because it does not adapt to film. not because it was bad film making.

    on a side note, i can't believe that Race to Witch Mountain might make more than Watchmen domestic...that's just stupid.

    damn you Paul Blart.
  • Michael Cole
    "....and an Irish Whip by the Great One, and what's this? OMG Rock Bottom! That's it! That's it! Here we go! The most electrifying move in sports entertainment! The People's Elbow right on Dr. Manhattan's chest! And there's the cover, 1 - 2 - 3! He did it! He did it! The Rock has beaten the indestructible man and conquered the top of this
    week's Box-Office! But will he able to retain the title 2 weeks when John Cena's latest crappy movie comes into theaters? Tune in and find out next week on SmackDown!
  • Nice. I so wish Rock would get off the screen and get back in the damn ring.
  • starscream9289
    Somewhere, in the middle of the woods, accompanied only by his shotgun and typewriter, Alan Moore is laughing.
  • completely agree
  • gah
    Look I didnt care for the film adaptation, but dammit I support it because of what it stands for: a genre film with balls. So rally the troops fanboys, because regardless of how you felt about it, we dont want to give Hollywood an excuse not to finance films like this.
  • mina
    Hollywood will keep financing films like this, just for $40 - $60million instead of $120 -$150million. And that ... is reasonable. Sin City, 300, Kill Bill were all sub $70M movies that made their studios happy. These studios will continue to make these films, but they won't give them blockbuster budgets.
  • Sure... but do you really want to encourage Snyder? I know Kevin Smith thinks he's Jesus, but I think he was in way over his head. I can only imagine what a more talented and genuinely "visionary" directory could have brought. Someone with more ability to work with characters and dialog. Perhaps some of this is the fault of the screen writing, but regardless - Synder strikes me as a good music video director - not a good film director.
  • snyder is a good film maker. watchmen was a bad movie who ever did it like smith says every one was gonna have problems with this film and clearly they do. even if anyother director did it youd all be whining. so shut up and deal with it. i like snyder and his work maybe youd all prefer ratner to come in and remake it
  • Excuse me for expressing an opinion you don't agree with. But I won't "shut up", particularly since you told me to. Peter Jackson proved what a talented director can do to truly ADAPT a story... Kevin smith is a hack who thought the Prequels were better than LOTR, who can't seem to get over his homoerotic obsessions involving hobbits and wizards. But I can't say I'm surprised Smith is ejaculating all over Zach Snyder and Watchmen - he is working for WB now after all..... then again he's allowed to have whatever opinion he wants, as are you... but me? No I need to "shut up". If something's popular around here you apparently aren't allowed to disagree.. saw this same behavior surrounding the Dark Knight. Very cultish and creepy IMO.
  • i didnt directly tell you to shut up but if thats how you take it then there you go
    peter jackson had three movies zack snyder had one he did one hell of a job with the task. i believe not one hundred percent though that the studio at the begining of lotr wanted it in one movie but jackson fought for three which was the right thing.
    snyder did everything right for having only one movie to do it in
    sorry you took it personally
  • gah
    Chris I think you're right, Snyder is overrated, but this film will in no way hurt Snyder. He'll keep getting work regardless. I was more worried about how it will hurt large budget R rated genre films that are not "mainstream". Also, you may see WB try and tone down Terminator Salvation to a PG13 after this disaster.
  • Palmer
    Well...this just sucks.
  • Phoenix
    Hmm... there is a mistake in the list of ALL-TIME TOP 30 GROSSING MOVIES THAT FEATURE A PRO WRESTLER. Doom is mentioned as having a $35.5M opening and a $28.2M cume. So after the opening, the movie actually had negative attendance? That must have been a first!
  • Watchmen is awesome and will make a great DVD but it's totally perfect for a huge screen with epic sound movie and should be seen in theaters. If people want to sacrifice such a cool cinematic experience in the name of bad buzz then... I dunno. Sucks for them because they're missing out.
  • Watchmen is awesome and will make a great DVD but it's totally perfect for a huge screen with epic sound and should be seen in theaters. If people want to sacrifice such a cool cinematic experience in the name of bad buzz then... I dunno. Sucks for them because they're missing out.
  • agreed that movie was awesome
  • John
    The film sucks... and Zack Snyder is overrated.
  • kindbuddy
    lol a lot of big name directors are overrated... i could go on and on
  • alot of everything is overrated
  • darryl zero
    i'll one-up you and say the film sucks...and zack snyder sucks. because he does. "dawn of the dead" is the only serviceable film he's managed to make.
  • Snake? Snake?!

    SNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Brice Gilbert
    Wait what? Negative buzz around Watchmen? I know no one who dislikes it. Out of 14 people I know who see 2 have read the book. And every person liked it. Hell my parents liked it quite a bit.
  • SamWithNoName
    But when was the last time you saw the lovers outshout the haters on the internet? Watchmen was a damn sight better than it really had any hope of being, but clearly that's not enough. Fanboy haters will bitch about anything. It's like we've forgotten that Batman & Robin was once the status quo.
  • Cmon now, Batman and Robin is considered one of the worst movies ever made, it was certainly not the status quo for comic book movies at the time. Perhaps you could argue that Batman Forever was.

    And I don't believe you're going to bring anyone over to your side by comparing Watchmen to a cinematic turd. Mainstream audiences have been treated to great comic book films like Iron Man and The Dark Knight in recent years, you aren't going to convince many people that just because Watchmen was better then Batman and Robin, it's somehow a great movie worthy of a second viewing.
  • VsTheWorld
    I completely agree. Just because Watchmen adds to the increasing trend of comic book films being seen as more adult than kid-friendly doesn't mean it automatically gets a pass. It still isn't a good film.
  • SamWithNoName
    All right, maybe B&R was a bad comparison (though the success of Batman Forever meant that, to studios and filmmakers, a movie like B&R was the logical next step... hence my using the phrase status quo), but my point was ultimately that I thought viewers were being overly harsh on Watchmen in the same way that they were over-praising The Dark Knight a year ago (though TDK deserves far more praise than Watchmen, but nevertheless...).

    In the end, I didn't plan on bringing anyone over to my side, Delta Assault. I enjoyed Watchmen quite a bit, and I felt the things that were good and done right outweighed the film's flaws. Clearly, I'm on one side of a very long, very tall fence here, and that's the way the film's going to be for a long time. But you're wrong when you say the film doesn't deserve a second viewing. Considered everything that's going both in the film and around it, it's definitely a movie worth seeing and evaluating more than once. That's the upside to Watchman as a film... it got everyone talking, and like Dark Knight before it, it got people beginning to take the source material as seriously as Chris Nolan or Zack Snyder, for better or for worse.
  • Last time the lovers out shouted the hater was Dark Knight. No one could say anything negative without being ripped apart.
  • Watchmen was perfect from a comic book fan point of view. Unfortunantly for the rest of the general public it didn't make any sense.
  • Comic book fans aren't enough to carry any film to the heights that were drummed up for Watchmen. Which is a shame, because had it been a little less profile and a little less forward about wanting to dominate the film world, it may have done a lot better. Bottom line is, Watchmen bit off more than it could chew.
  • Wasabi Steak
    lol@Watchmen struggling to even make Batman & Robin numbers.
    Disney and The Rock laid the smacketh down on this overly self-indungent movie and its legion of comic geeks. Fantastic news.
    Frankly I think its time studios had the balls to lay off comic book properties for a while and perhaps create original franchises. I dont mind brining in comic book writers for it, just dont make them adaptation. Im just done with the whole popularity of all things geek/genre this decade especially in movies and TV.

    Im being harsh of course, Zack did the best he could and he should be commended but clearly there's limits to how far you can go with comic adaptations.
  • lay off comic book properties?

    SL Jackson just signed on to do 9 more appearances as Nick Fury. That means Marvel will be rolling out with at least as many. Add in DC's Green Lantern and Wonder Women, in addition to Scott Pilgrim and all the others out there-

    you're in for a long and bumpy ride. comic book properties are money in the bank right now. I agree with your desire for more original franchises though, we just don't see enough.
  • I have to agree with you. Just because the last few haven't done as good as people have projected it to do, it's not going to change the future of Comic Book Movies. Dark Knight made sure that didn't happen and Marvel is making sure that it keeps going.

    If Wolverine does bad, which I don't think it will, than I think it would be because of word of mouth of the quality of the film which we would have Fox to blame. Marvel had made two quality films and are planning on churning out more in the coming years to show that they don't like when their franchise characters get turned into laughable story lines that suck to death.
  • schnipple
    Snyder was out of his depth. I wanted to like the film but it was terrible -- terrible acting, terrible directing and the soundtrack was atrocious. Snyder has no grasp for the depth and complexity of human emotions in a dramatic situation. Pure and simple, this is what it takes to be a good director. He simply lacks those qualities. There was no subtext in the film, it was all surface. Watchmen is one of my favorite comics and I really wanted to like the movie but it failed on every level, it failed as commentary, it failed as an action piece, it failed to involve me emotionally or intellectually, but worse of all it failed to tell a good story. I wish I was one of the people who appreciated it, but I can't give Snyder a pass. He is no good for mature material.
  • everybody has their opinion but to say that it 'fails' ON ALL LEVELS is little too much me. It may not win for everything but to FAIL at EVERY level? Again, no matter who directs the Watchmen, that said director will be in a CATCH 22. Were you setting yourself up for disappointment from the get-go?

    I'm not saying what EVERYTHING Smith said was the GOOD WORD, but I agree with him. I applaud WB for having the balls to release a movie like this. That's why they're the best in the biz (though it took them a few years).
  • schnipple
    Yeah, I think it was a pretty shallow film. Not much worked in it. In fact the only thing I thought was well done was the title sequence. In retrospect even that was ultimately not right for the film because it set expectations for a certain feel/tone which never materialized. It should've been toned down or taken out because it is misleading for the audience since the creativity in it never happens again throughout the fim.
  • I've seen it thrice and it is a great film, seems to be getting better with each viewing. It brought the comic book to life (as accurately as anyone was going to) and did so with great flair. I loved most everything about it except a few minor details that aren't worth mentioning. I saw the first midnight showing, the next day's Friday showing, and a Friday showing last night. That last one was for Solid Snake. I got your back.

    I'll probably see it again. I enjoy it very much and for anyone else considering another go - it's impossible to catch all the little details the first time, see it tomorrow. Pay attention to the opening credits for an explanation on why Batman doesn't exist. Fantastic.
  • I wonder if I have bade taste in films, as I thought Watchmen was great...or if peopel are just jumping bandwagon so they don't get slapped for liking the movie.

    I can't tell anymore.
  • oafius
    balls to you all, i love the film. was in perpetual awe throughout, fantastic film making. this film will be remembered and it will get its dues. Same as fight club, quite possibly the best film ever made, and it flopped at the box office because people werent ready for it. now its generally in any film lovers top ten and has had a substantial return thanks to the dvd sales.
    the film industry needs more directors like zach snyder.
blog comments powered by Disqus

gorilla nation

/Film

Copyright © 2010 /Film. Web design by Pro Blog Design. Logo Concept by: Illumination Ink

All names, trademarks and images are copyright their respective owners.