Kane52630
Jingle Bells Batman Smells
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/business/media/16watchmen.html?ref=business
Marketers at Warner Brothers may have set a new standard on stretching the truth by heaping an unusual amount of praise on the director of the forthcoming superhero film Watchmen.
Billboards for Watchmen are causing some double takes in Hollywood because they call the director, Zack Snyder, a highly regarded but relatively inexperienced filmmaker, a visionary director above the title of the film.
Mr. Snyders pre-Watchmen résumé consists of two movies. The first was Dawn of the Dead, a 2004 remake of the 1978 film about flesh-eating zombies in a mall. It sold a respectable $59 million in tickets at theaters. His other film, the visually stunning mock-historical 300, was a smash in 2006, selling $211 million in tickets at domestic theaters.
People have been debating the visionary label online since December, when Warner Brothers used the adjective in a trailer. Wired magazine called such hyperbole a sign that Watchmen may not have the goods. Comments on sites like I Watch Stuff have been even less kind.
A Warner Brothers spokeswoman declined to comment.
The studio which was recently forced to share revenue from Watchmen with 20th Century Fox after losing a copyright dispute is betting big on Mr. Snyder in part because the movie, due out in March, lacks star appeal. (With Billy Crudup the biggest name in the cast, Warner has featured Mr. Snyder in television ads as well.)
By publicly crowning the affable Mr. Snyder a visionary, Warner may have hurt its own cause in one regard: His agents at the powerful Creative Artists Agency certainly have a new angle to work in future salary negotiations with the studio.
Marketers at Warner Brothers may have set a new standard on stretching the truth by heaping an unusual amount of praise on the director of the forthcoming superhero film Watchmen.
Billboards for Watchmen are causing some double takes in Hollywood because they call the director, Zack Snyder, a highly regarded but relatively inexperienced filmmaker, a visionary director above the title of the film.
Mr. Snyders pre-Watchmen résumé consists of two movies. The first was Dawn of the Dead, a 2004 remake of the 1978 film about flesh-eating zombies in a mall. It sold a respectable $59 million in tickets at theaters. His other film, the visually stunning mock-historical 300, was a smash in 2006, selling $211 million in tickets at domestic theaters.
People have been debating the visionary label online since December, when Warner Brothers used the adjective in a trailer. Wired magazine called such hyperbole a sign that Watchmen may not have the goods. Comments on sites like I Watch Stuff have been even less kind.
A Warner Brothers spokeswoman declined to comment.
The studio which was recently forced to share revenue from Watchmen with 20th Century Fox after losing a copyright dispute is betting big on Mr. Snyder in part because the movie, due out in March, lacks star appeal. (With Billy Crudup the biggest name in the cast, Warner has featured Mr. Snyder in television ads as well.)
By publicly crowning the affable Mr. Snyder a visionary, Warner may have hurt its own cause in one regard: His agents at the powerful Creative Artists Agency certainly have a new angle to work in future salary negotiations with the studio.
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