We have some news regarding the bullshit legal battle that Fox has brought against WB’s WATCHMEN and it isn’t good. We get the following scoop from our friends at cinematical:
Last month, Elisabeth alerted you to the legal turmoil bubbling around Watchmen. Basically, 20th Century Fox used to have the rights, and claim they still have them, so they’re trying to prevent Warner Brothers from releasing the eagerly awaited film. Warner Brothers, meanwhile, claims that Fox has sat silently until the film was set to go, knowing full well what was happening.
Now The New York Times says that Warner is pushing for a trial date of April, with Fox pushing for June. Assuming that the film can’t be released until this is cleared up, we might not only not get Watchmen in March, but also not in the summer of 2009. Will we have to wait until 2010?
The current release date for WATCHMEN is March 6, 2009. I sincerely hope this mess is cleared up before then, and that the matter can be settled out of court. Buzz coming from those that have seen this film has been very positive, and it would be a shame to keep this out of the hands of fans because Fox finally decided they want to go to court. This film has been talked about for some time now and Fox waited till everything was a wrap before they decided to throw their cards on the table and go to court. This is dirty, and I don’t care if they have a case – they are being flat out cocks about the whole thing.
I would have no problem if they went to WB at the onset and hashed their problems, but instead. they waited until the project was done and began to whet the appetites of the fans. This was done for strategic reasons and sadly, the fans now have to suffer for it. I understand that film is a business. The business exists because of a relationship the makers of film have with their audience. It’s the fans after all that make the movie machine run, and I suggest that they be treated with respect.
It’s too bad WB moved Harry Potter to next year, they could have thrown some of that money at Fox to pay their WATCHMEN tax.
