'Watchmen' Opening Day Numbers Not Spectacular

It looks like we're probably going to just about on the mark for predicting Watchmen's big debut. The Thursday night midnight screening numbers made the four-day forecast look a little more robust, coming in around $4.5 million, but the Friday numbers were off that standard just a little, causing the extrapolations to be rejiggered. Still, a $25 million Friday isn't bad at all, particularly for a movie that is in no real way mainstream, and according to Steve Mason at Big Hollywood, that should put Watchmen on pace for a $62 million debut. If you're trying to place this in a historical perspective, don't. It won't break any records, not for an R-rated opening, a March opening, or even, most likely, a Zack Snyder opening. But it will dominate this weekend, of course. One of three films - Madea, Taken, or Slumdog Millionaire will finish in second place, and maybe one of those will make over $10 million. But Watchmen will easily outgross everything in the top ten, whether it hits $60 million or rebounds for big numbers Saturday night and gets up closer to $70 million. We'll have all the numbers tomorrow.