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08-19-2008, 04:09 PM
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#1
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Right Hand of Doom
Adamantium Plus Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 35,567
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Doomsday for The Watchmen?
Damn 20th Century Fox. They better not get their way. 
Quote:
Los Angeles (E! Online) - Who will watch The Watchmen? Nobody, if 20th Century Fox gets its way.
After a major court victory, the studio has announced a bid to block the release of Warner Bros.' anticipated adaptation of the seminal graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
Fox originally tried to develop the project more than a decade ago, but didn't manage to get the film off the drawing board. The studio claims Warners never properly acquired the rights to The Watchmen, and, in a major twist, instead of seeking a share of the would-be blockbuster's box-office gross, Fox is seeking to kill the flick entirely before it unspools in theaters March 6.
Cue the agonized cries of fanboys everywhere.
A federal judge in Los Angeles agreed with Fox lawyers that there's enough evidence to keep the lawsuit going forward—and keep the film's release in limbo.
Directed by 300 helmer Zack Snyder, The Watchmen stars Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Billy Crudup and Jackie Earle Haley as a band of former superheroes who find themselves reclassified as criminal vigilantes in an alternate universe circa 1985. As an unknow assassin begins to hunt them down, the heroes try to unravel a conspiracy and thwart a nuclear war.
The film's trailer wowed Comic-Con attendees last month, stirring big buzz for a film that many thought would never get made.
Per its complaint, Fox traces its distribution rights through a series of complex legal agreements that began in 1991 when the studio teamed up with veteran producer Larry Gordon to develop the DC Comics graphic novel.
The project stalled and Gordon went packing, leaving Fox, not Gordon, in control of the property, per the suit.
But Gordon resurfaced in 2006 and inked a deal with Warners to try to relaunch Watchmen.
In siding with Fox, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Fees said Warners' legal camp failed to show that Gordon still had a stake in the project.
"Warner Bros.' production and anticipated release of The Watchmen motion picture violates 20th Century Fox's long-standing motion picture rights in The Watchmen property," Fox says in a statement.
"We will be asking the court to enforce Fox's copyright interests in The Watchmen and enjoin the release of the Warner Bros. film and any related Watchmen media that violate our copyright interests in that property."
It's not clear exactly why Fox is asking for an injunction to block The Watchmen from coming out, especially since the film's already in the can, although it could simply be a ploy to gain a large portion of ticket sales. There's also no indication why Fox waited so long to bring its case.
Warners, meanwhile, tried to spin the ruling as favorably as possible.
"It is our company's policy not to comment on pending litigation and thus will not comment on the specifics of this case," the studio's statement reads. "That said, the court's ruling simply means that the parties will engage in discovery and proceed with the litigation.
"We respectfully disagree with Fox's position and do not believe they have any rights in and to this project."
Fees has asked the studios to expedite the pretrial wrangling. After all, the film's release is apporaching and the Doomsday Clock is ticking.
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08-19-2008, 04:53 PM
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#2
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I took an IQ test and the results were negative.
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: 9th Circle of Hell
Posts: 80
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hellboy
Damn 20th Century Fox. They better not get their way. |
i agree god im looking forward to this movie!!!! 
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08-19-2008, 04:56 PM
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#3
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The Flash
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Central New Joisey
Posts: 17,068
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Oh man that is going to seriously suck if it doesn't get released.
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08-19-2008, 05:38 PM
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#4
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The Secret Six
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,564
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fubar
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08-19-2008, 05:43 PM
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#5
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Cyclops
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: If it was up your a$$ you'd know!
Posts: 11,961
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FOX sucks. More than a decade ago, there wouldn't've been the technology to render the movie as beautifully as it appears in the trailers.
That rotten assed company is just trying to make a buck off of looming success of another production company.
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08-19-2008, 05:46 PM
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#6
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Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 634
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The b**tards!
Waiting till now to bring the lawsuit!
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08-19-2008, 07:45 PM
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#7
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42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 181
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This is bad news. I'm not a big fan of FOX to begin with but now this is going over the line. So if it matters and you guys want to send a message to FOX maybe we as a movie going audience, should speak with our wallets and just not bother with FOX movies when they come out in the theaters until this Watchman lawsuit is resolved with the release of the movie ( and yes, I'm talking about not going to see Wolverine).
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08-19-2008, 08:09 PM
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#8
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Rescue
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: BAY AREA!!!
Posts: 15,955
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Business as usual. Like any company, if there's something to exploit to further your own company's bottom line you'd be a pretty stupid business not to pursue it.
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08-19-2008, 08:14 PM
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#9
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My Better Is Better Than Your Better
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: O-H-I-O!!
Posts: 5,546
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f*ckers!
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08-19-2008, 08:32 PM
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#10
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My baby calls me the Loch Ness Monster, two great big humps and then I'm gone
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Scotland
Posts: 13,239
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any movie that was written by alan moore is damned
I just want them to adapt the lost girls
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