Comments on: Fox vs. WB: The Ultimate Watchmen Showdown

By: Joshi

Joshi — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:27:42 +0000

@Matt

Fox own the distribution rights. It’s as simple as that really, they acquired all rights to Watchmen over 20 years ago, long before Warners got DC. Even after Warner owned DC, rights to make and distribute Watchmen still lied with Fox. Fox forfeited the rights to make Watchmen and Warners bought them (after other studios bought them and unsuccessfully made a movie with them), but the distribution rights stayed with Fox.

This basically means that Warners were allowed to make a movie, just not release it. Fox couldn’t legally start any court proceedings until Warners started attempting to release this movie, which is why they had to wait until February to put in a court order. And even then, Fox claims they contacted Warners about this before production began, and Warners just ignored them.

As sad as it may seem, this is mostly Warners fault. Fox are just laying claim to what’s theirs, which they have every right to do, no matter how much we want to see this film.

By: Matt Hagan

Matt Hagan — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:35:07 +0000

Ok…this is crazy. Isn’t Watchmen in the same boat as say 300, Constantine & V For Vendetta? Aren’t these all under the DC umbrella? Doesn’t Warners own DC which makes these properties and characters Warner Brothers? I heard something a few weeks back that there was an old Batman show or some DC character tv show that Fox was trying to get the rights to because of some clause… All these clauses and loopholes because Fox paid $10.00 back in 1931 to Bob Kane or some madness to produce a show that never came and they’re causing havoc 80 years later.

I actually like Fox. They’ve done a lot of good for entertainment during my lifetime…from The X Files to Buffy The Vampire Slayer…giving Chris Carter and Joss Whedon their big breaks as directors, Martin, Mad TV (the early years), The Simpsons, Rescue Me, 24, Family Guy and plenty of great movies…so I don’t hate them completely, but this Watchmen fiasco has me siding with Warners and losing my respect for Fox

By: New Japanese Watchmen Trailer = More Awesomeness - Screen Rant

New Japanese Watchmen Trailer = More Awesomeness - Screen Rant — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:20:30 +0000

[...] line: Fox needs to stop messing with this movie. Watchmen is in the top five of just about everyone’s list of most anticipated movies of [...]

By: Fight Like A ‘Ninja Assassin’ - Screen Rant

Fight Like A ‘Ninja Assassin’ - Screen Rant — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:30:56 +0000

[...] group who also worked on hit action movies 300, the Bourne films and this year’s Watchmen (hopefully this year). They do amazing work and are becoming more and more involved in some of the biggest action films [...]

By: What Is Zack Snyder’s Guardians Of Ga’Hoole? - Screen Rant

What Is Zack Snyder’s Guardians Of Ga’Hoole? - Screen Rant — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:28:57 +0000

[...] Warner Bros. is distributing the film, and it looks like Animal Logic, the company behind the awful message movie, Happy Feet, is producing it. The film opens July 30, 2010, and let’s hope that Watchmen doesn’t open then, too. (Read about the legal issues here.) [...]

By: KEL

KEL — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 03:14:28 +0000

Dammit, FOX, I’ve been waiting years for this movie!!!

By: KEL

KEL — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 03:13:57 +0000

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

By: JBRREX

JBRREX — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:05:22 +0000

Pep may get mad about this thought, but do you imagine that all this fight and when they release the movie Sucks and don’t make as much as they think???

By: Mat D.

Mat D. — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:02:58 +0000

I’ve been a fan of the graphic novel and I am NOT anticipating this release…this being adapted into a Hollywood feature is insulting to the material and ideally should have been adapted into a 4 hr animated mini-series…that aside, this whole situation is entertaining to me…it wiil be interesting to see how this is turned out

By: Joshi

Joshi — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:01:16 +0000

Yeah, Fox isn’t entirely blameless here, but people are quick to blame them fully because… well people just don’t like Fox. When this news broke, many people (me included) were ready to boycott Fox altogether. Now people know it’s mostly WB’s fault, there’s no such talk for them, people are more willing to cut WB a little more slack than they would Fox simply because everyone has at least one reason to completely hate Fox (for me it’s their constant cancellation of great shows, notice how the only shows that are cancelled and are then brought back in some form or another because of good DVD sales tend to be Fox shows).

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:45:20 +0000

Good point Joshi. Maybe they did everything they could, maybe they didn’t. I feel like no one is completely innocent here. But everyone is so busy ripping Fox because they seem like the bad guy here. But it’s just as easy to assume that Warner bro’s screwed things up too.

If Fox had their dirty little hands on Watchmen and had decided to make it, it would’ve been completely ruined. I’m starting to think that Fox is the place where great movie ideas go to die (X men, Fantastic Four and now Watchmen?) Stay away from the heroes Fox!!!

By: Vic Holtreman

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:34:12 +0000

@790

At this point you’d probably enjoy both if you see the movie first and then read the book for more depth.

Vic

By: 790

790 — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:31:05 +0000

Lol Rob,,,
Naw I’m holding out for the movie,,,

By: CanuckLou

CanuckLou — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:23:22 +0000

Fox and WB both could have settled this a long time ago.

By: Joshi

Joshi — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:03:53 +0000

It also seems like the only reason Fox decided to sue in February was because they only own the distribution rights and that was the earliest possible time they could. Without WB have a product that they could actually market for distribution, Fox had no case. If Fox did indeed contact WB before production (and I’ve heard a few people with “very reliable sources” saying that they did) then this is all basically on WB.

I mean, I don’t really like Fox by any stretch, but they did all they could here… despite the fact that at the very least, a Fox produced Watchmen film wouldn’t have been as good as Snyder’s (okay, so we haven’t seen Snyder’s yet and I’m talking about a what if scenario here, but it’s more than likely that that would be the case).

By: Vic Holtreman

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:52:27 +0000

Hey guys, don’t forget a while back I wrote a complete rundown of the Watchmen ownership history:

http://screenrant.com/watchmen-movie-delay-fox-studio-fault-vic-3576/

Vic

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:03:09 +0000

790 said he would read it this week…or something like that

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:52:33 +0000

Trust me 790

If you had already read the graphic novel, you’d be just as mad as we are. It is something special for sure.

I hope an appeals process would help, but I’m pretty sure nothing is going to stop all this nonsense short of a settlement. It’s so frustrating.

By: Jess H.

Jess H. — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:35:09 +0000

I do not think anyone is inoccent at this point. WB should have checked to see who had the rights and Fox was just looking for an easy paycheck since they cant make a decent movie anymore. I just want the movie to be released on time. These Studios act like 5 year olds sometimes I swear.

By: Gary

Gary — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:15:21 +0000

If Fox doesnt agree to a settlement ,
WB might try to drag it out in the appeals court long enough to get the film released .
that might not work,
Fox might try to block it .
But WBs recent statements seem to imply this possibility.