News

'Watchmen' gets blast across NBC Uni TV

   Feb. 27, 2009 – NBC Universal agrees to be a platform for video clips from the Warner Bros./Paramount Pictures The Watchmen starting Sunday. It’s marketing promotion that crosses studio lines, since NBC Universal owns Universal Pictures—which is not involved.
   Six clips from the R-rated Watchmen will run on NBC U properties NBC Television, USA Network and Sci Fi Network. We can assume Warner Bros. made a big ad buy somewhere along the way to this promotional deal.
   Scheduled for domestic theatrical release March 6, Watchmen is a fantasy film from Spartan saga 300 director Zack Snyder, which has a big buzz in the comic book community. The first wave of movie reviews suggest that Watchmen is good, though not quite living up to the great buzz.

PRESS RELEASE

   The promotion begins on March 1st and encompasses several of the most popular series on three NBC Universal networks: NBC (“Heroes” and “30 Rock”), SCI FI (“Battlestar Galactica” and “Ghost Hunters International”) and USA Network (“Burn Notice” and the acquired theatrical “National Treasure”). The select clip montages have been slated to air as follows:

  • March 1 – Clip montage featuring Dr. Manhattan airs exclusively during “National Treasure” on USA Network.
  • March 2 – Clip montage featuring Rorschach airs exclusively during “Heroes” on NBC.
  • March 4 – Clip montage featuring Ozymandias airs exclusively during “Ghost Hunters International” on SCI FI.
  • March 5 – Clip montage featuring Nite Owl airs exclusively during “Battlestar Galactica” on SCI FI.
  • March 5 – Clip montage featuring Silk Spectre II airs exclusively during “Burn Notice” on USA Network.
  • March 5 – Clip montage featuring The Comedian airs exclusively during “30 Rock” on NBC.
   Following their network airing, the clips will be available for viewing on nbc.com/watchmen.
A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, “Watchmen” is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the Doomsday Clock—which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union—moves closer to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the outlawed masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion, Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity…but who is watching the Watchmen?