Nobody knows! Despite predictions that it would top $70 million this weekend, Watchmen earned only $55.7 million, which still seems like a lot of money to us — but then again, we're not one of the three studios who'll have to share all the profits (or debt, maybe!). The movie, which cost $150 million, managed the sixth-highest-ever opening for an R-rated film, but visionary director Zack Snyder failed to beat his own previous March-opening record of $70.9 million, set by 2007's 300. And while Watchmen's gross is pretty huge considering its bleak worldview, geeky source material, and three-hour running time, if a movie like The Dark Knight can do $160 million in a weekend, then why couldn't this one have made a little bit more?

One imagines it won't have too difficult a time covering its budget, at least. It earned an extra $27.5 million overseas, where Paramount holds the rights. Its domestic box office, though, will be split in some fashion between Warner Bros. and Fox, which battled over its distribution and were probably hoping for $70 million, considering what they probably spent on its marketing. Did bad word of mouth hurt it? And does that bode poorly for the movie's second weekend, even if it has basically no competition (apart from that crappy-looking kids' movie starring the Rock)?

Still, though, Zack Snyder has already announced plans to release an extended director's cut in theaters in July. Plus, with all the money Watchmen and Tales of the Black Freighter will likely make on DVD, its theatrical gross will probably be just a bonus, right? RIGHT?

Anyway, since nobody else seems able to decide whether to green-light a sequel or declare the death of the comic-book movie, we leave it to box-office sage Paul Dergarabedian to sum it up: "People always have overblown expectations for movies like this," he tells the L.A. Times. "It did what a movie this long with an R rating should do."

'Watchmen' dominates movie box office [LAT]
‘Watchmen,’ a Dark Tale, Lights Up Box Office [NYT]
Consensus Needed [Hollywood Elsewhere]
WEIRD OR WONDROUS? Zack Snyder's 'Watchmen' Clocks $55.6M Weekend; Jonas Brothers Concert Film Sinks -78%[DHD]