Should we fear the end of the R-rated comic book superhero movie? - Den of Geek

Watchmen's failure signals the end of the R-rated comic book superhero movie.

Before I quote from the article ... a quick point or two.

I think they should wait to see how Watchman sells and rents on DVD. The basic target market for superhero movies includes (mostly?) people under 17. They can't get into theaters, but they can buy and rent DVDs with no problem, so the post-theatrical market is likely to be stronger.

Stronger than the theatrical performance, that is, but still not as strong as PG-13 films overall, for another reason ...

The greater issue is the fact that PG-13 superhero movies also have a kiddie audience consisting of parents taking younger kids. This is different from the 12-16 year olds who go with friends rather than with their parents. R-rated films like Watchman have to accept that they are completely shut out of the family market. Even I would not take kids to see Watchmen, or even let my kids or grandkids watch it, and I'm not exactly a bastion of conservatism.

Having noted all of that, we should also take note of the fact that 300 did quite well, so there may be no trend at all. It may just be that people felt the Watchmen movie sucked canal water and stayed away. Anyway, here's what the article says:

"Warner Bros' admission that it won't be making any more R-rated comic book movies, as reported at the website IESB, was hardly the world's biggest surprise. Marvel Studios had already beaten Warner Bros to the punch on this one. It has already said, no doubt while it was rolling in the cash brought in by Iron Man, that it wasn't looking for R-rated comic book movies. And when you look at the numbers, you can understand why."