Superhero movie “Watchmen” grossed $4.6 million from midnight screenings that ere showed early on Friday, according to box office tracker Media by Numbers. Helmer Zack Snyder’s highly anticipated adaptation of Alan Moore’s famous comic book series was screened at midnight on Thursday in 1,595 venues across the country, including 124 IMAX appearances, all of which sold out, thus urging the addition of approximately 20 screenings at 3 a.m.

 

The director’s previous comic book epic “300” brought in $2.5 million in the same kind of early showings a couple of years ago and went on to earn $70.9 million over the course of its debut weekend. The R-rated new production opened yesterday worldwide.

 

In spite of the fact that a certain weekend projection cannot rely on the early $4.6 million figure, the movie is positively off to a good start.

 

“Watchmen,” which cost some $120 million to create and lasts for 2 hours and 43 minutes, is set in 1985 in the midst of the specter of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The only superhero that owns real powers is a science addict going by the name of Dr. Manhattan, who is almost unbeatable and almighty, but escapes to Mars due to the fact that he is not able to identify with human nature, mainly the mind-set of women. Billy Crudup plays the regularly unclothed Dr. Manhattan.

 

In the meantime, a cloaked vigilante dubbed Rorschach, impersonated by James Earle Haley, is searching for the assassin of fellow superhero the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Moreover, he is joined by retired superheroes Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and Night Owl (Patrick Wilson) in his attempt to straighten out a plot with very dangerous consequences for humans.