20th Century Fox Suing Over Warner Bros. Watchmen

[Kane52630]

FREEDOM!! lol
Yes now we can look forward to March 06

 

[LegendaryCaleb]

thank god!

 

[JerseyJoker]

Good for Fox, getting paid money they rightfully are entitled too.

 

[TheVileOne]

I told you.

Settlement.

I said nothing will stop the movie from coming out in March.

 

[Boom]

Great news.

Kudos to both WB and Fox for reaching a settlement, although it sounds like Gordon's in deep ****.

 

[Shifty]

From Variety it has some details on the settlement and what WB considered.

WB, Fox make deal for 'Watchmen'
Warner to open superhero film March 6
By MICHAEL FLEMING, DAVE MCNARY

Warner Bros. and Fox have settled their very public battle over "Watchmen." A deal has been hammered out that that gives WB some face-saving points, but which gives Fox the equivalent of a movie star’s gross participation.

Warner Bros. gets the right to open its superhero pic on March 6 as planned, and Fox's logo will not be on the film, sources said.

Fox, on the other hand, will emerge with an upfront cash payment that sources pegged between $5 million and $10 million, covering reimbursement of $1.4 million the studio invested in development fees, and also millions of dollars in legal fees incurred during the case.

More importantly, Fox will get a gross participation in "Watchmen" that scales between 5% and 8.5%, depending on the film’s worldwide revenues. Fox also participates as a gross player in any sequels and spinoffs, sources said.

A joint statement said, "Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox have resolved their dispute regarding the rights to the upcoming motion picture "Watchmen" in a confidential settlement. Warner Bros. acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography.

Fox acknowledges that Warner Brothers acted in good faith in defending against those claims. Warner Bros. and Fox, like all "Watchmen" fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film’s March 6 release in theatres."

Attorneys for the studios are scheduled to meet Friday morning with U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess in Los Angeles to finalize the settlement.

Fox, which first acquired rights to the graphic novel in 1986, filed suit in February at about the same time director Zack Snyder wrapped production. The studio, which had advised WB of its rights position before the film went into production, contended in court that it retained distribution rights under a 1994 turnaround agreement with producer Larry Gordon, who took "Watchmen" to Warner Bros. after attempts to make it with Fox, Universal and Paramount.

Feess found in his ruling that Gordon, who’s not a defendant in the case, had never exercised his option to acquire Fox’s remaining interest in "Watchmen" nor had he honored his agreement since 2005 to offer the project to Fox under the "changed elements" part of the pact.

Feess had ruled on Christmas Eve that Fox had distribution rights to "Watchmen" and urged the studios to seek a settlement rather than go to trial, which had been set to begin next Tuesday. The studios had disclosed last week that they had been making progress toward resolving the dispute.

Though it was denied by both studios, sources said that in recent weeks that WB and Fox discussed several intriguing horse-trading scenarios after WB choked on Fox’s initial ask of 10% gross and distribution in some overseas territories.

One scenario had WB moving "Terminator Salvation" away from its Memorial Day weekend opening on May 22, because it collides directly with Fox’s launch of "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian." WB considered that, but there was a major problem. "Terminator Salvation" rights owner Halcyon has that May 22 release date stipulated in its contract. With sci-fi films "Transformers 2" and "Star Trek" due this summer, there is no better berth for "Terminator Salvation" than the four-day holiday weekend, so a moving wasn’t possible.

Another area that was explored involved Steve Carell. Fox wants to pair the actor with Tina Fey in "Date Night," a comedy that Shawn Levy will direct. Fox needs to get that film in production by the spring, because Fey has a small window before resuming her duties of writing and starring in "30 Rock."

WB was in a position to block that, because it held an option on Carell for a "Get Smart" sequel that it could have used to ruin Fox’s "Date Night" dreams. WB didn’t press that, because it has a strong relationship with Carell and it was clear that "The Office" star badly wanted to make the movie with Fey. WB agreed to push "Get Smart 2" to spring 2010, a move made before the studio settled its "Watchmen" dispute.

Carell and Fey are finalizing their deals for the Fox film.

The next chapter in the saga might come when WB seeks some redress from producer Larry Gordon, who has been at the center of the maelstrom and who has a gross participation comparable to the one that WB will be giving to Fox, according to sources.

"Watchmen" marks the second big legal affairs snafu for WB in recent memory. It wasn’t that long ago that WB had to pay $17.5 million to settle claims so that the studio could release "Dukes of Hazzard"; the "Watchmen" settlement is likely to cost WB much more money than that.

 

[nightwing06]

Glad its settled bring on March 6th

 

[Scarface5]

Well this is great news for us fans, we get to see what we've all been waiting for. WB must be pissed as hell for having to pay though and I'm sure they're gonna go after Larry Gordon with everything they have. It seems like Gordon dropped the ball completely on this by not being totally forthcoming with WB either through his own fault or from bad legal advise/reprenstation. WB has said, and it's looking more like it, that they never received certain important documents regarding the rights from Gordon. That's why they just seemed to brush off Fox when first contacted about all this. This guy is in an butt load of legal trouble and his producing days might be over. At least WB only has to pay upfront production costs and a somewhat small amount of box office (even though now the split is going 4 ways due to Paramount and Legendary Pictures also getting some, which means even less $$$ for WB) and not DVD and merch sales. I'm sure they'll make plenty of bank of the DVD & Blu-Ray sales, which is an incredibley important part of total gross these days for films. What I don't get is how Moore & Gibbons were able to sell the film rights to Gordon and Fox if the comic was published by DC which was and is owned by WB. To my understanding DC has always owned the rights to the Watchmen comic, not the creators, so how did this happen without WB at least having first dibs. There should really be umbrella laws for things like this; if you own a property you should own all rights for any form of media that the property could be translated into.

 

[Octoberist]

still no damn updats on the '60s Batman TV show DVD release!

 

[Nivek]

I told you.

Settlement.

I said nothing will stop the movie from coming out in March.

Which time?

 

[Evil Twin]

What I don't get is how Moore & Gibbons were able to sell the film rights to Gordon and Fox if the comic was published by DC which was and is owned by WB. To my understanding DC has always owned the rights to the Watchmen comic, not the creators, so how did this happen without WB at least having first dibs. There should really be umbrella laws for things like this; if you own a property you should own all rights for any form of media that the property could be translated into.

WB wasn't interested in doing superhero films before Batman (1989) at that point. They even sold off the rights to Superman to Cannon films. It's exactly the same reason that Marvel can't make X-Men, Daredevil, and Spider-Man films at their studio.

Realistically, I'm not sure that the contemporary management of WB was wrong. After all, it took over 20 years for someone to make a film and they're likely all out of the business now. And we don't know how much money the film will actually make. There was no market for an R-rated, adult, superhero movie about characters nobody heard of in 1986, so why wouldn't the WB corporation take someone else's money for the film rights to an "unfilmable" and "uncommercial" property?

And, let's remember, that part of the power of owning rights is having the ability to sell the rights to someone who values the property more than you do.

 

[Mister Sinister]

Great news, movie's just a month and a half away now, bring it on!

 

[Kane52630]

Which time?

6th

 

[Angel_Faerie]

I'm glad it's over.

 

[Symbiotic]

What a mess this was. I hope WB gets what they can from Gordon.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

So it's all sorted now? Sweet.

Now all WB need to do is sue Gordon

"Rodney you plonker!!"

 

[WeaponXProject]

*Deep breathe* I feel better now.

 

[SalaciousVC]

3-6-09,baby.

 

[Evil Twin]

People assume that WB is holding up the Batman tv series without any real confirmation. That could very well be a complete myth when there are a host of other issues that could be behind the holdup, but without the easy ability to point the finger at a solution.

 

[He-Man]

Good news on the settlement. Can't wait to see this.

 

[WeaponXProject]

People assume that WB is holding up the Batman tv series without any real confirmation. That could very well be a complete myth when there are a host of other issues that could be behind the holdup, but without the easy ability to point the finger at a solution.

Huh? What Batman series? A cartoon series?

 

[CFE]

The Adam West series...Warners owns DC and the rights to the character, but the 60s show was made at 20th Century Fox.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Great news, now we can actually look forward to the movies release in March. Good stuff from both parties, cant wait to see this movie now.

 

[The Spawn]

DAMN, FOX gets $$$ from any sequels....those bastards.

 

[Mister Sinister]

DAMN, FOX gets $$$ from any sequels....those bastards.

With Snyder in charge is there really any chance of there being any sequels?