“Watchmen” scribe David Hayter writes a letter

Screenwriter David Hayter writes an open letter to any and all fans of Watchmen (which he co-wrote):

This is a movie made by fans, for fans. Hundreds of people put in years of their lives to make this movie happen, and every one of them was insanely committed to retaining the integrity of this amazing, epic tale. This is a rare success story, bordering on the impossible, and every studio in town is watching to see if it will work. Hell, most of them own a piece of the movie.

So look, this is a note to the fanboys and fangirls. The true believers. Dedicated for life.

If the film made you think. Or argue with your friends. If it inspired a debate about the nature of man, or vigilante justice, or the horror of Nixon abolishing term limits. If you laughed at Bowie hanging with Adrian at Studio 54, or the Silhouette kissing that nurse.

Please go see the movie again next weekend.

You have to understand, everyone is watching to see how the film will do in its second week. If you care about movies that have a brain, or balls, (and this film’s got both, literally), or true adaptations — And if you’re thinking of seeing it again anyway, please go back this weekend, Friday or Saturday night. Demonstrate the power of the fans, because it’ll help let the people who pay for these movies know what we’d like to see. Because if it drops off the radar after the first weekend, they will never allow a film like this to be made again.

For more background, Patrick Goldstein posted this earlier this week. The verdict is still out re the success/failure of Watchmen at the box office. Here is Goldstein’s assessment of the all important second weekend figures:

So how did “Watchmen” actually do? We’ll know for sure next weekend. If it only drops off 30% or 40%, it could hold up well enough here and overseas to turn a profit. But if the drop is closer to the collapse the “Matrix Revolutions” sequel suffered, everyone who has a lot of money in the picture — starting with Warners — will be battening down the hatches, since its hard to believe that “Watchmen’s” extreme violence and strange Nixonian-era American politics will make it a much bigger winner overseas than here.

And Claudia Eller weighs in with this article in the LA Times:

Amid a flurry of anticipation and hype, director Zack Snyder’s superhero epic opened last weekend with $55.2 million in U.S. ticket sales — a solid but less-than-blockbuster debut for a movie that Warner Bros. and its partners will have spent $200 million-plus to make and market.

The question now is whether all the Internet and water cooler chatter will translate into footsteps into the theaters this weekend.

“The film had a very respectable opening,” said Christopher Dixon, managing director at Gabelli Group Capital Partners. “The killer, of course, is whether the picture is able to sustain its popularity.”

I’m going this weekend. Any of you who’ve seen the movie, do you think I’ll enjoy it or not? Anybody else going?

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