Will Archie be unboarded?
I am sure that by now everyone knows all of the headache going on with the new Warner Bros / 20th Century Fox film, Watchmen. If you don’t know what is going on, it is basically a copyright battle between FOX and WB. Fox wants to delay the March 6th release date.
Check back to this post often, as this post will be updated as we get more news.
1/7/2009
From the Los Angeles Times:
Lawyers for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. have agreed to let a federal judge decide whether Warner Bros. will be allowed to release Watchmen on March 6, forgoing a jury trial that could have put the high-profile film’s future into even longer limbo.
In court papers filed Monday with U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess, attorneys for Fox and Warner Bros. jointly said they would let the judge decide Jan. 20 whether Fox could block the film’s theatrical distribution as Fox has been seeking all along as part of its copyright infringement lawsuit against Warner Bros.
So it looks like we will know if Watchmen will be released as scheduled on the 20th. I for one hope the film doesn’t get delayed in appeals court, although I am almost sure it will. Here is how I see it though, the film is made, the film is going to be shown no matter what the outcome of the court battles. So why can’t we go ahead as planned, and worry about the lawsuits down the road? What do you guys think?
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January 7, 2009
#1
This is the strangest predicament I’ve ever seen concerning a movie.
Cool Photo!!!
January 7, 2009
#2
It is an excellent photo 790 ;)
January 7, 2009
#3
I await that day with cautious optimism.
January 7, 2009
#4
I predict that it will open as schedule, but not without severe consequence,
January 7, 2009
#5
Large amounts of cash must exchange hands first. Cut a check for a couple million and it should be done.
January 7, 2009
#6
I’ve heard also that there’s a Batman connection to all this. As WB is holding back on allowing FOX to sell the 60’s Batman tv show on dvd…
Just two corporations fighting over money and control. America’ fuck ya!
January 7, 2009
#7
Team America ruled.
Alec Baldwin is a F.A.G
January 7, 2009
#8
You know a lot of ppl at least around me at work had no idea about this lawsuit.
January 8, 2009
#9
“Cut a check for a couple million and it should be done.”
If I was Fox I would ask for half:
Half the theatrical take.
Half the Merchandising take
Half the DVD take.
If they agreed, then they could release the film on time.
January 8, 2009
#10
I wish I knew all the details to this. Because part of me thinks it’s pretty convenient that Fox waited until the Buzz became so huge.
Somebody’s getting fired over at WB for not checking the copyrights? How do you freakin’ miss that? Hollywood has lawyers crawling out of every crack, I can’t believe that this was missed. Very odd.
Do you think that people will boycott Fox like they are threatening? I kind of think it would be cool to see, but it will never happen. I personally don’t have anything against Fox. If they own the rights, then so be it. It’s more of a David and Goliath thing for me. Fans/movie goers (their bread and butter) are never taken into consideration when this stuff goes down. This should have been settled back before production started…Everyone knew it was in pre-production so somebody at Fox should have stepped forward before possibly screwing over the over-charged movie goer. But it is all about the bottom line…just like every corporation. Milk it where you can.
Don’t get me wrong, if you are able to become a powerhouse corporation, then kudos. You should make all the money you deserve and keep the money you’ve made. I just wish that the “little people” weren’t the ones to suffer.
What I’m saying is, this could have been avoided.
January 8, 2009
#11
[...] seen a lot of Watchmen developments. The legal case will now be decided by Judge Gary A. Feess on January 20, the Japanese Watchmen Trailer was released and now two new Watchmen marketing goodies have [...]
January 8, 2009
#12
Yeah Filmbook, I see them asking for a lot more than what I suggested. I actually wasn’t clear enough in that comment (sorry, it was late and I was tired)
I meant that is what they should’ve done from the get go, and they couldve avoided all of this. Before anyone knew how good the movie would be. Now that it looks like a hit, it’s going to cost Warner Bro’s a lot more.
Here’s the deal with the rights: Warner Bro’s basically got the rights to make the film. But they never got the rights to DISTRIBUTE the film. Now, I don’t know how true this is, but I’ve heard that FOX tried to contact Warner Bro’s about this early and Warner ignored them. It would seem to fit in with how they have handled this case so far (standing pat on the rights thing) If all of the stuff I just said is 100% true, and like I said I can’t confirm all of it, then FOX couldn’t legally take action while Warner Bro’s were making the film, only until they were getting ready to distribute it.
In the end, JD, you are 100% right. This could’ve, and should’ve, been avoided. The more I find out about this, the more it seems like Warner Bro’s screwed up BIG and FOX (as much as I hate them for screwing up some of my fav. comic characters) are not the bad guys in this case.
I hope it ends up well.
January 9, 2009
#13
I love reading this stuff. Even though I don’t comment on everything, I still read it all :P Its really cool getting some insider info. Maybe even adds to the excitement of it all.
January 9, 2009
#14
Sweet photo, 790. :-D
Hope we get over this crap already. Something like this seems to happen to every DC Comics movie about superheroes that aren’t Batman related. :-(
January 9, 2009
#15
I just stumbled onto an article over at Hit Fix dot Com that has “An Open Letter From Watchman Producers”.
It’s pretty interesting. This view does in fact show Fox as kinda being a bunch of sore losers. Give it a read.
Let me know if you would like me to post the link.
January 9, 2009
#16
Definitely post the link, I think most of us would be interested in checking it out.
January 9, 2009
#17
Here is the link to the article. Enjoy.
http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-6-motion-captured/posts/2009-1-8-an-open-letter-from-watchmen-producers
January 10, 2009
#18
Thanks for the link! That was good to know, I like to know as much as possible if I plan to rip someone or something.
Here’s a brief update guys:
AP reports that attorneys from both studios told a federal judge that they were having “fruitful” settlement talks. Lou Karasik, who is representing Fox, told the judge that the delay would be “very, very helpful” to settlement discussions he deemed “productive.” The judge apparently was surprised by the revelation, as he noted that Warner Bros. had been seeking to move up the Jan. 20 trial to next week, because of the film’s marketing campaign and its release date.
All of this sounds pretty good to me!