There are dozens of ways to tell what a studio thinks of a film. In almost every case the most blatant actions of a studio tend to mean absolute confidence that a movie will bomb.
There are the cases were the director refuses to put their name on the film, which normally will be seen as a director Smithee film. That is a sign that the director could not get what he wanted or the studio overruled the final cut. Generally not a good sign.
There are the instances where major name actors with significant roles prefer not to attach their name to a project, even after all editing and filming are done. This can be far less sure a sign as one of the more famous examples is the lack of credit of James Earl Jones in Star Wars. Jones thought the film would be a bomb and declined to take credit, as if anyone could not recognize his voice.
But the bigger examples are when trailers are refused to be shown to critics and/or the public. Snakes On A Plane was completely viral, and when the critics (and public) saw the film it was understood why. Or when a film is scheduled to come out in January. The first month of the year is noted as the graveyard. A time when few are expected to venture to theaters due to weather and lack of cash from holiday spending. The worse the film, the closer to January 1st they open.
There are exceptions to the January rule, within reason. Cloverfield did quite well, in a field without competition or quality, though blockbuster it was not. But films like the upcoming Notorious are the prime examples of January studios expect to start their year with.
But one thing that you rarely ever see, are studios going to court to stop a movie from opening. And when the reason the film will be delayed is a question of who has the rights (and thus a cut of the money) you know what they are thinking. This is a cash cow, a blockbuster they must have a piece of.
The Watchmen is something the movie studios believe they have to have part of.
Currently Fox and Warner Bros. are fighting to prove who owns all the rights, or portions, for this film. It may potentially push back the March 2009 release of the film. And the only reason a studio goes through this kind of argument is because they know they will reap all the cost of litigation and more when the film gets out.
The Watchmen is one of the more anticipated films of over a decade. The trailers for the film have been heavily viewed for over a year now. The storyline appears to be virtually the same as found in the graphic novel - which was groundbreaking on multiple levels. And the environment is perfect of a conversion from graphic novel to silver screen with the success of Iron Man, the Dark Knight, X-Men, and several other films in the past couple of years. [Not to mention the planned 4th Spiderman, Wolverine, Avengers, and several other conversions to be released soon.]
I have already said that I expect Watchmen to be astounding. From what I can garner it will be like no other film, not because of the effects but the story. It is a movie that will take movie-goers to a place few films have dared to tread. And the studios smell the money like sharks tracking blood.
If nothing else tells you that this will be a blockbuster, the court case should be the last motivation you need. Unless I am very wrong, this will be the movie of 2009. There is a prediction for the new year, and you don't need to be Nostradamus to see that.
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