How hot can 'Watchmen' get?

"Watchmen" doesn't come out until March, but the interest the general public has in this comic adaptation is already showing signs of being the kind of crossover phenomenon that hasn't been seen in a comics property in a long time.

Since the trailer for the film came out the week before Comic-Con — and attached to prints of "The Dark Knight," now nearing a $500 million domestic gross — DC has printed 900,000 new copies of the graphic to meet demand. That number dwarfs the normal sales level for top-selling graphic novels. Even graphic novels based on movies do only a fraction of that business in the high-demand window that surrounds the release of such a movie. Add in that "Watchmen" has been a best-selling title ever since it was released as a graphic novel more than 20 years ago, and its' even more amazing.

And there's more to it than just high print runs and sell outs — "Watchmen" is in the zeitgeist. And it's as telling as this: I was at the supermarket a few days ago wearing a Comic-Con T-shirt that didn't mention or feature any characters from "Watchmen." but the kid at the checkout stand still asked me about Watchmen, saying he saw the trailer and wanted to know more about it. Was it like the "X-Men" movies? Or more like "Spider-Man"? I urged him to pick up a copy because there's no substitute for reading the book, when the woman in line behind me asked if she could buy the book at a regular bookstore or if she had to find a comic shop. No trailer (or finished movie for that matter) has interested as many people in actually reading a comicbook since the Batmania of 1989. All of which should have the marketing execs at WB drooling in anticipation.

Adding fuel to the fires of expectation is self-appointed King of the Nerds Kevin Smith has seen a cut of "Watchmen" and raves about it on MySpace, calling it "f---ing astounding."

Meanwhile, the judge in a the lawsuit between Fox and WB over the rights to the film refused a WB request to dismiss. Fox alleges the studio still owns the rights to the project and is seeking an injunction to prevent its release.

source: Variety