Patrick Wilson thinks audiences weren’t ready for Zack Snyder’s Watchmen

Last Updated on August 4, 2023

Hollywood had tried to get Watchmen to the big screen for decades, but the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons proved notoriously difficult to adapt. After years in development hell and a revolving door of directors, Zack Snyder successfully brought Watchmen to life. Despite its passionate fan base, Watchmen was polarizing and under-performed at the box office, leading Patrick Wilson to wonder if audiences weren’t ready for it.

Patrick Wilson recently spoke with CinemaBlend about Insidious: The Red Door and touched upon Watchmen, which he said is the only movie of his that he’s watched “front to back” since it debuted. “I wanted to look at it as an older guy, as a filmmaker,” Wilson said. “I knew Zack was ahead of the curve, y’know, it’s weird to say that audiences weren’t ready for it, but you need a movie like that. You need movies to go so dark, so then Avengers can go so light. Bur yeah, I love that movie.. I mean, I’d love to do that movie now.“

While Watchmen may have under-performed at the box office, grossing $185 million worldwide against a budget between $130-138 million, it enjoyed a second life on home-media. Zack Snyder released a director’s cut of the movie with roughly 24 minutes of additional footage, as well as an animated adaptation of the Tales of the Black Freighter comic within the story featuring Gerard Butler. The last release was an “Ultimate Cut” edition incorporating Tales of the Black Freighter throughout the live-action movie.

Patrick Wilson recently returned for Insidious: The Red Door, which he also directed. The horror sequel serves as “final chapter of the Lambert family’s terrifying saga. To put their demons to rest once and for all, Josh (Wilson) and a college-aged Dalton (Ty Simpkins) must go deeper into The Further than ever before, facing their family’s dark past and a host of new and more horrifying terrors that lurk behind the red door.” Insidious: The Red Door is now playing in theaters, so be sure to check out a review from our own Tyler Nichols right here.