The Challenges Facing Ben Stiller's The Watch

First, the title was changed from Neighborhood Watch to The Watch after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida.

Obviously this is a comedy about suburban dads, not something about misguided vigilante craziness.

The emphasis, they wanted you to know, was on it being a light-hearted romp about an alien invasion.

But wait a minute.

Alien aggression doesn't do that well at the box office anymore.

Let's not forget about Battleship and Prometheus and...

Hey, maybe The Watch should go back to calling itself Neighborhood Watch and go for that angle again?

Nah.

If Ben Stiller and company can fight aliens, they can certainly battle a few misconceptions and marketing problems.