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Monday
29Dec2008

Fox Will Seek 'Watchmen' Delay

DateMonday, December 29, 2008 at 5:29PM
An attorney representing 20th Century Fox said the studio will, in fact, seek an order delaying the release of Watchmen, which could not be worse news.

If you were otherwise and/or understandably preoccupied over Christmas, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess jumped the gun on the January 20th hearing about whether Fox did hold rights to the film, scheduled for release on March 6th by Warner Bros. Feess said that in his opinion, Fox was entitled to compensation, and today indicated that the January 20th court date will go ahead as planned to discuss other issues.

At the center of all of this is Fox's claim that it had never fully relinquished its rights to the film version of the legendary graphic novel, which it had owned outright in the early 1990s. Judge Feess agreed and suggested that the studios reach a settlement on their own.

But now, rather than work on a financial solution, Fox might indeed look to stall the delay of Watchmen, poised to become one of the biggest non-summer hits of 2009. And, this is just speculation, but people will probably fully and passionately hate Fox for its decision. It appears that Fox will force Warner Bros. into a corner, hoping to block release on a film that is nothing more than a check to 20th, while Warner Bros. has financed and marketed and you could argue even nurtured the film that another studio might strip away from them over some legalese.

Of course, Warner Bros. says it doesn't want to settle, either, so the movie will hang in the balance during this big pissing match.

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AuthorColin Boyd | | in , , , , | Print ArticlePrint Article | | Comment5 Comments |

Reader Comments (5)

Alright Fox stop being a little bitch just cause you make crap and get crap
and doesn't give you the right to take away something that may be good
from another that actually worked hard to make it.

Monday, December 29, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterSomeoneMad

Fox is the assassin of all that I love.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterOrinn

If they are so picky about it, why didn't they just make the goddamn movie in the first place?! Dumb assholes.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMRPigg

Oh MRPigg don't you know? Sometimes owning a property is a much more lucrative position than actually developing anything with it. Warner should've made certain that they had this lock, stock and barrel before ever making the film, don't they have a legal dept. for dotting those i's and crossing those t's? If the judge continues to side with Fox and the evidence is unquestionably in their favor it'll go to settlement... I think. The WB wants to see this flick out there and I'd have a hard time believing that the two sides can't possibly find a way of making it happen.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterAsana

Of course Warner dropped the ball here, and of course it's more profitable to own than to create. But that still doesn't mean that the executives at Fox aren't being assholes.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMRPigg

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