WB & F*cking Fox settle over Watchmen – Official Statement

We just received the official Statement from WB & Fox…

“Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox have resolved their dispute regarding the rights to the upcoming motion picture Watchmen in a confidential settlement. Warner Bros acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography. Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith in defending against those claims Warner Bros. and Fox, like all Watchmen fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film’s March 6 release in theatres.”

So what’s this mean….? WB paying off Fox…

Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over “Watchmen,” with the studios scheduled to present a likely settlement to Judge Gary Feess on Friday morning and request that the case be dismissed. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed, but it is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film’s boxoffice. Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it own a piece of the “Watchmen” property going forward. The studios are set to release a joint statement announcing the agreement Friday. – from THR

Also, a cash payment upfront including recoupment of its development costs and attorney fees, a draft pick to be named later, and god-only-knows what else because neither Fox nor Warner Bros would comment on the terms of the deal. – from Deadline Hollywood

Latest on Warner Bros. VS Fox Watchmen Battle

Lawyers for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. have agreed to let a federal judge decide whether Warner Bros. will be allowed to release “Watchmen” this spring, forgoing a jury trial that could have put the high-profile film’s future into even longer limbo.

In court papers filed Monday with U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess, attorneys for Fox and Warner Bros. jointly said they would let the judge decide Jan. 20 whether Fox could block the film’s theatrical distribution, now scheduled for March 6, as Fox has been seeking all along as part of its copyright infringement lawsuit against Warner Bros. – from LAtimes

Latest on Watchmen Ruling. Also, Fox Sucks.

Warner Bros. will have to scramble to settle with 20th Century Fox if it still wants to release “Watchmen” on March 6. In a Christmas Eve decision, a Los Angeles federal judge ruled that Fox owns the distribution rights to “Watchmen.” “Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” Judge Gary Allen Feess ruled. Judge Feess issued the surprise five-page ruling a week after setting a Jan. 20 trial date for Fox’s suit and indicated he would issue a more detailed ruling soon. He also advised the studios to either reach a settlement or prepare an appeal. – from Variety

I’ve just learned tonight that the Fox Filmed Entertainment brass, because of the holiday, didn’t even know they had won! The New York Times’ Michael Cieply was first to get hands on today’s five-page written order issued by Gary A. Feess, a Los Angeles-based judge in the United States District Court for Central California, stating how he intends to rule soon in the closely watched case. I broke the news in August when Feess denied a Warner Bros motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox’s legal battle over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a highly anticipated film based on the graphic novel Watchmen written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Fox was seeking to enjoin Warner Bros from going forward with the project and releasing it in March 2009, and Feess back then refused to deep-six Fox’s lawsuit filed on February 12th. Everyone assumed there would be a trial starting in late Janury over the legal issues because Feess at an earlier hearing said he believed one was necessary to settle the case. – from Deadline Hollywood

Judge’s ruling could delay “Watchmen” release date. With a Los Angeles federal judge ruling that 20th Century Fox owns the distribution rights to “Watchmen,” Warner Bros. will now have to quickly come up with a deal with Fox to make the scheduled March 6th release date for the film. Paramount is lined up to handle the international release of “Watchmen.” – from M&C

The ruling in favor of Fox, reports the WSJ comes as a surprise, given that the studio appeared to have dropped the project more than a decade ago and was not involved in producing the film. Fox bought the rights to “Watchmen” in the 1980s for one of its top producers, Lawrence Gordon, who helped produce the “Die Hard” franchise. But the studio eventually abandoned its plans to make a film from the graphic novel. Gordon then took the project to Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. – from WSJ

But I don’t give a shit about the law right now, (or, hey, while we’re at it, ever). When it comes down to it, Zack Snyder worked hard on this movie. All of the actors and all of the crew members worked hard on it. The producers took a risk by giving Snyder complete creative control and a buttload of money. This is a movie that fans have been praying and begging for for decades. We want this movie and, more importantly, we want it done right. We want it to be visually stunning. We want to see the book’s complex themes brought to life. We want to see Dr. Manhattan’s glorious, blue genitals majestically flopping on the big screen. – from Cracked

Watchmen in trouble, Fox owns rights says Judge

The long-gestating court battle over the film rights to “Watchmen” took a possibly cataclysmic turn late Wednesday, as Judge Gary Alan Feess ruled in favor of 20th Century Fox, declaring the studio held a copyright interest in the property that would cover distribution of the upcoming “Watchmen” movie. – from MTV

At an earlier hearing, the judge said he believed that issues in the case could be settled only at a trial, which was scheduled for late January. On Wednesday, however, Judge Feess said he had reconsidered and concluded that Fox should prevail on crucial issues. “Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” the ruling said. – from NYTimes

“Watchmen,” based on the popular graphic novel of the same name, was shot by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures. Fox sued to prevent its release and Feess had set a Jan. 20 trial, but reversed course in writing that Fox at least owns the right to distribute the film.
Fox claims it never fully relinquished its rights to the story from a deal made in the late 1980s. Warner spokesman Scott Rowe declined to comment on the latest ruling. – from AP