After so many fanboy friendly movies have been hailed as nearly guaranteed box-office windfalls only to either flop, break even, or become moderate successes, it's perfectly legit to explore the box office potential of Watchmen. Will fans set the bar so high that Watchmen can't possibly be as big or as successful as its fan base wants it be? I don't mean whether Watchmen will be a good film. For now I'll take Kevin Smith at his positive word since he' already checked it out and the trailer does look absolutely amazing. Instead I'm referring to the unpredictable gray area that exists between excitement from a fan base, the limitations

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The 300 Factor

An "R" rating aside, one of the major factors in favor of Watchmen's box-office potential is the fact that not a lot mainstream moviegoers knew of Frank Miller's 300 prior to its release. 300 had a huge niche fan base in the graphic novel world, which kick-started good word-of-mouth about the layers of its story. At the same time, Hollywood and mainstream movie fans finally began to appreciate the genius of Frank Miller, which opened the door to a new, non-conventional graphic novel to film adaptation. The fact that Watchmen director Zack Snyder turned 300 into a $200 million box-office hit only enhances Watchmen's chances to live up to.....

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