Citizen Dog Citizen Dog
Aug
20
2008

Twentieth Century Fox says ‘nay nay’ to WB release of The Watchmen in 2009.

Posted by Mack at 5:44am.

Posted in Film News , Cult, Drama, Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, USA & Canada.

If I was a betting man I would hedge a bet how long Twentieth Century Fox was holding out from dropping this bomb on fanboy land. Just long enough for the trailer to come out and get that Pavlov reaction a swirling? I would have bet they used our collective geek drool to seal the envelope of their claim to the rights of Alan Moore’s graphic novel thus their presumed share of the profits when the film adaptation of The Watchmen comes out in March 2009… maybe. Alas this appears to have been a long time coming as they originally made the claim back in February that they still hold the rights to the graphic novel.

Following a series of complex legal arrangements in the ensuing years that involved the joint venture Largo Entertainment and producer Larry Gordon, US District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess ruled that Fox still held a claim to the rights.

The ruling leaves both parties clear to proceed to litigation. Fox claims it is owed a share of the profits when a Watchmen film is released and foreshadowed a possible request for an injunction blocking the release when it issued a statement that said: “We will be asking the Court to enforce Fox’s copyright interests in The Watchmen and enjoin the release of the Warner Brothers film and any related Watchmen media that violate our copyright interests in that property.” Screendaily

Enjoin - law to forbid or command somebody to do something by means of a legal injunction.

This of course adds up to “DAMNIT”. I know we’re many months away from the actual release but it would be a shame for something so pretty to wallow away in darkness while studios bicker about rights and profit shares. 

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Reader Comments

  1. studboi69 08/20/2008 @ 10:10am

    After the last few days, I seriously believe that Fox is on a mission to fuck up any comic book movie that comes in their path. First this hoopla with Watchmen and then their threat to water-down Wolverine to make it more kid-friendly. Yeah, Fox is a total dick.

  2. Rhythm-X 08/20/2008 @ 11:26am

    Fox just wants the money without the risk.  They just waited for WB to get into a position where it was more cost effective to pay Fox to go away than it was to abandon the project.  Nothing more.  Nobody’s trying to stop this movie.  Don’t ask me for sympathy for the company that refuses to release the Golden Harvest library.  I hope Fox screws them over value-size.

    And you know this made Alan Moore’s day, given how he feels WB screwed him over on money from merch pertaining to… what was the name of that comic again?  Oh right, “Watchmen”.  No, this is not bad news at all.  Mostly just amusing.

  3. Saltoner 08/20/2008 @ 11:48am

    I sure hope someone in the legal department at WB lost their job over this.  That’s a pretty bad mistake to make with one of, if not the most anticipated film of 2009. Yeah, Alan Moore must feel so vindicated with his thoughts about Hollywood after this debacle.

  4. The Visitor 08/21/2008 @ 3:31am

    i hope the Watchmen movie stays dead and is never seen by human eyes.

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