Who’s watching the ‘Watchmen’? A lot of people, apparently

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "Watchmen" clocked in with $55.7 million in ticket sales to claim the top spot at the box office, making director Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation about a team of twisted superheros the biggest opening of 2009 so far. Still, it was not quite as big as the $70 million take of Snyder's "300" in 2007.

For the year, movie attendance continues to soar, with revenue at $1.9 billion, up 16 percent through the same point in 2008. Even factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 14 percent higher than last year.