Sexier, longer Watchmen may hit theatres in July

Martin Anderson

...but will another Watchmen cut set a trend for theatrical double-dipping if it works?

Published on Feb 20, 2009

If the shorter cut of Zach Snyder's Watchmen is the huge hit many are expecting in March, the longer director's cut we reported about yesterday may make it into a second theatrical run in the summer, at least in cinemas in Los Angeles and New York.

Zach Snyder declared that the extended film is "considerably more violent… and sexier."

If Warners get excited enough to go that far, it doesn't seem unlikely that distributors at least in other major cities, and countries, might want to get in on the action. The bad news? If it works it may start a trend for theatrical double-dipping to rival the DVD fiasco, where a 'light' version comes out for the kiddies and the adult version later on, and you can bet they'll both hit cinemas before there's a sniff of a disc release.

Both Grease and Saturday Night Fever were released in 'full' and censored editions, in 1978, but they were in cinemas at the same time. Considering the staggered release of 'vanilla' and then 'special' disc editions, this could add another lucrative station-stop to the already drip-fed way that popular movies are released, solving criticism about toned-down sex and violence, but at the consumer's expense.

firstshowing.net

Watchmen theatrical release about 40 minutes 'too short'?

Users Comments

Re: Sexier, longer Watchmen may hit theatres in July
Posted By Modemac 1 February 20, 2009 02:34:55 PM

Eat your heart out, Peter Jackson. I suppose the reasoning here is that because the "deluxe longer director's cut edition" DVDs of movies don't sell as well as the original theatrical cut -- plus the fact that the March theatrical release has been hyped to the point of no return -- they might conclude that there is little risk of a drop in the initial box office returns from the March release, as hardcore fans decide to wait for the release of the director's cut edition instead. Meanwhile, they may be trying to test the market to see why the edited PG-13 edition of "The Passion of the Christ" flopped when it was released to theaters a year after the original R-rated gorefest was a monster hit.