Have you considered that, quality aside (that's highly subjective), the Watchmen film make not have had to struggle if they had toned down the squicky parts a bit?
If you make a movie with over-the-top violence, you de facto renounce the majority of movie-goers (kids and people who don't like watching people get graphically disemboweled). So don't act surprised when you can't make as much as more "acceptable" movies like Iron Man and Dark Knight.