After eighteen days in theaters, Zack Snyder’s Watchmen movie has earned just $159 million worldwide — a number, by all indications, less than the $200 million-plus it cost to make, advertise, and litigate. So, the Observer wonders today, is Warner Bros. really crazy enough to give the guy another $100 million to make Sucker Punch, a film he wrote about a girl committed to a mental institution, which he’s hilariously promised will be like “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns,†but also like Moulin Rouge as well, somehow.
At least Watchmen came with a presold audience of Alan Moore fans and lovers of uncircumcised bell clackers — but will anyone pay money to see a film whose premise sounds like a Terry Gilliam fever dream? Astoundingly, Warner Bros. still thinks so, as Sucker Punch is purportedly scheduled to begin shooting this fall (Amanda Seyfried dropped out yesterday because she’ll be filming Big Love at the same time). Presumably, though, WB will wait to hear about Watchmen’s DVD sales this summer before they sign any checks.
Is Warner Brothers Really Giving Zack Snyder Another $100 Million? [Observer]
Zack Snyder Gets “Watchmen†Blame, But Studios Still Want Him [Carpetbagger/NYT]