Watchmen scares Warner Brothers?

Watchmen hasn't fared in a very stellar fashion in theaters. It could be the long running time, it could be the Dr. Manhattan wang as another member of the group, or it could be the fact that the film is wooden and hollow. Any one of those or a combination of them could have led to its lukewarm reception among moviegoers. For those of you that saw it, I hope you enjoyed it. If an IESB source is to be believed, it will be the last rated R superhero movie they release. The suits at Warner Brothers are following this logic. The Dark Knight eviscerated the box office with a PG-13 rating. You could argue that the film could've been rated R, but that's neither here nor there. The second best comic film of 2008 was Iron Man, also an R rated movie. Compared to those two films, Watchmen hasn't done anything financially. And the WB thinks its because of the R rating scaring some fans off. No family friendly themes in that movie. Now we've finally gotten to the point where the studio is essentially admitting that box office revenues will trump creativity and commitment to source material. Thought it was awesome that Wonder Woman broke Max Lord's neck? Won't see that in a Wonder Woman film. And that's really sad. Sure, I'll still see that film, Green Lantern, etc. But this means that what we'll see are movies that have a core story muddied by two or three Warner Brother executives that want to earn that extra couple of million on opening weekend. WB doesn't seem to recognize however that these characters already have expectations built into them. We know what we want a Wonder Woman movie to be. A Superman movie. A Wolverine movie (if you notice, the rating on that one is still pending, but I'm guessing it'll end up PG-13). You can't just waltz in and change events in the film because they cost the film a PG-13 rating. It may not work within the context of the character. Keep an eye on this for now, but don't be surprised if some DC properties don't have the best movies in the future. No more R rated superhero films from Warner Brothers

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