Fox suit seeks to stop Warner Bros.' Watchmen

There is a rather major snag in the way of Watchmen’s big-screen debut.

The problem is not with the filming. Warner Bros. has already begun filming the $100 million adaptation of Watchmen, with director Zack Snyder behind the camera. WB was planning on releasing the film March 6, 2009.

The problem is whether or not Warner Bros. had the right to begin filming in the first place.

Twentieth Century Fox says they didn’t. Fox filed a suit against Warner Bros. in February of this year claiming that it owns the Watchmen distribution rights. That means Warner Bros. would not have the right to distribute any movie using the Watchmen material.

Rather than asking for a percentage of the studio’s profits from the release, Fox is seeking to have the project stopped altogether. Not released.

The man at the center of the controversy is producer Larry Gordon, who began peddling the idea of a Watchmen adaptation to studios 17 years ago. According to Fox’s lawsuit, Gordon had an agreement in the early '90s with the studio to buy out its stake if another studio took up the project. This was, of course, before Warner Bros accepted the film idea.

Warner Bros. attempted to have the lawsuit thrown out, an appeal that was rejected by federal Judge Gary Allen Feess. Feess appears to agree that Fox has retained the rights to Watchmen since the '90s because Gordon never bought out the studio’s interest before moving the project to a new company.

Warner Bros. responded to the lawsuit in a statement, saying, “It is our company's policy not to comment on pending litigation, and thus will not comment on the specifics of this case. That said, the Court's ruling simply means that the parties will engage in discovery and proceed with the litigation. The judge did not opine at all on the merits, other than to conclude that Fox satisfied the pleading requirements. We respectfully disagree with Fox's position and do not believe they have any rights in and to this project."

Related links:
News: Watchmen trailer released online
WarnerBros.com
FoxMovies.com

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