"Doomsday for 'Watchmen?'" (Murdoch's Fox sues to block release of film)

Source: E! Online

Doomsday for The Watchmen?

by Josh Grossberg
The Watchmen Clay Enos. TM & © DC Comics

Who will watch The Watchmen? Nobody, if 20th Century Fox gets its way.

After a major court victory, the studio has announced a bid to block the release of Warner Bros.' anticipated adaptation of the seminal graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

Fox originally tried to develop the project more than a decade ago, but didn't manage to get the film off the drawing board. The studio claims Warners never properly acquired the rights to The Watchmen, and, in a major twist, instead of seeking a share of the would-be blockbuster's box-office gross, Fox is seeking to kill the flick entirely before it unspools in theaters March 6.

Cue the agonized cries of fanboys everywhere.

A federal judge in Los Angeles agreed with Fox lawyers that there's enough evidence to keep the lawsuit going forward—and keep the film's release in limbo.

Directed by 300 helmer Zack Snyder, The Watchmen stars Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Billy Crudup and Jackie Earle Haley as a band of former superheroes who find themselves reclassified as criminal vigilantes in an alternate universe circa 1985. As an unknown assassin begins to hunt them down, the heroes try to unravel a conspiracy and thwart a nuclear war.

The film's trailer wowed Comic-Con attendees last month, stirring big buzz for a film that many thought would never get made.

Per its complaint, Fox traces its distribution rights through a series of complex legal agreements that began in 1991, when the studio teamed up with veteran producer Larry Gordon to develop the DC Comics graphic novel.

The project stalled and Gordon went packing, leaving Fox, not Gordon, in control of the property, per the suit.

But Gordon resurfaced in 2006 and inked a deal with Warners to try to relaunch Watchmen.

In siding with Fox, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Fees said Warners' legal camp failed to show that Gordon still had a stake in the project.

"Warner Bros.' production and anticipated release of The Watchmen motion picture violates 20th Century Fox's long-standing motion picture rights in the Watchmen property," Fox says in a statement.

"We will be asking the court to enforce Fox's copyright interests in The Watchmen and enjoin the release of the Warner Bros. film and any related Watchmen media that violate our copyright interests in that property."

It's not clear exactly why Fox is asking for an injunction to block The Watchmen from coming out, especially since the film's already in the can, although it could simply be a ploy to gain a large portion of ticket sales. There's also no indication why Fox waited so long to bring its case.

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Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b24472_doomsday_watchmen.html

There is no bad publicity for a movie.

if the movie is the least bit decent and faithful to the source (i wouldn't know because i never read it) the box office take just went up another $50 mil...fanboys will storm the box office at any hint of a ban

He's been wanting to see this film ever since we saw the trailer.

I can't believe they'd try to block Watchmen, but didn't try to block V for Vendetta.

I eagerly, if with some trepidation, await the movie. Hopefully they don't screw it up the way they did "V"...

P.S. Mr Grossberg? Some of those "fan boys" are "fan chicks"...just sayin'...LOL!

and the movie gets TONS of free pub.

Just interested why you think it was screwed up? I read the story as it came out, the hiatus halfway through the story caused a small drop in coherency of the source material. For me the film just smoothed that out...c'mon, you have to give credit that an actor was prepared to go the whole length of the film behind a mask...it's more than Stallone was prepared to do for Dredd...

OMG I totally fanboyed out...

...(imagine that I am currently pushing up my glasses and putting aside the hard drive I just removed from a machine...IE..Geek Alert!)


I think they caught a lot of the book, almost frame for frame. I was very impressed that they left the prisoner and the in the roof
with the rain...and "V" managed to emote even through that mask, I agree absolutely.

However

I felt that they screwed up the ending in a really fundametal way. It was not about V as a person, it was about V as an IDEA. All those people showing up in hte masks was tragic IMHO.

I guess it's not fair to throw the baby out with the bathwater, but still...I hope there are no missteps in Watchman.

At any rate, welcome to DU fanboy...from fanchick! :-)

as surely as any shit-brained producer.

Years back, I worked on the comics based on Ridley Scott's film Alien. When some story ideas were pitched that involved characters from Aliens (the sequel), we were forced to work with an entirely different office at Fox. Later, we tried to develop an Aliens vs. Predator comic (this was years before the utterly horrible film versions). Our plans had to be put on hold. Why? Because the Aliens office at Fox was suing the Predator office.

From what I've seen, it would be a lowdown dirty shame if Snyder's version of Watchmen remains in the can. Only now, when a new crop of talented young directors are ready to adapt these projects with care and reverence, the fucking lawyers have to step in.

Cool beans. :)

"Years back, I worked on the comics based on Ridley Scott's film Alien."



I was searching for an I'm Not Worthy emoticon, but I couldn't find one...

That is hyper cool.

Are you still doing art? Got any recent work?

the way that DC basically killed Captain Marvel, the original "superman."

as in Roger Corman's version.

Fox and Warners are also apparently involved in an ongoing struggle over the old Adam West Batman DVD rights. I don't like this. The fans cry out in despair. Who came up with the whole greed is good mantra? Grumble. < Walks away muttering and kicking things.... >