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Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Film / Nerd Not Watching the Watchmen

Posted by on Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 11:16 AM

Watchman_Down_.jpg

Watchman down! Watchman down!

The upcoming Warner Brothers' Watchmen movie might be postponed due to a lawsuit by Fox:


In a defiant statement issued Monday, Warners said it was prepared to go to trial or to appeal last week's U.S. District Court ruling that the studio had infringed on Fox's copyright in making the adaptation of the Alan Moore superhero graphic novel.

"We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the court's ruling and are exploring all of our appellate options," the studio said. "We continue to believe that Fox's claims have no merit and that we will ultimately prevail, whether at trial or in the Court of Appeals."

Fox, meanwhile, is looking for an injunction against the March 6, 2009, release of the movie.

The outraged fans, terrified that they might have to wait to see the Watchmen film, are talking about boycotting Fox:

"I solemnly swear: if Watchmen ends up on the list of great movies that almost made it, I will be leading the charge to make Fox PAY. I will slam every one of the crap movies and TV shows they put out, and use every bit of my blogger-power (it’s about 3/4 as potent as flower-power) to downright brainwash every suggestible reader into boycotting any movie released by 20th Century Fox until Watchmen sees the light of day. (Sorry Wolvy, you’ll be my first victim. Just to let these stuffed-suits know I ain’t playing!) Fox will come to learn the TRUE meaning of the word “backfire,” and I think I speak for a great many Watchmen fans when I say that."

It's the end of the entertainment world as we know it.

 

Comments (17) RSS

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1
Oh Jesus fuck. What a pain in the ass.
Posted by Levislade on December 30, 2008 at 11:25 AM
2
In the spirit of the watchmen we should burn it all. yes. all of it. and by the by. FUCK MARLEY AND ME. that peice of shit is being gobled up by america and they don't have the sense to know shit when they see it. isn't that one of the purposes of the watchmen in the first place. to stand up when others idle by.
Posted by Sammy J on December 30, 2008 at 11:26 AM
3
*cough* SIFF Secret Festival *cough*
Posted by mum's the woid on December 30, 2008 at 11:29 AM
4
I bet the movie is on par with The Spirit. Keep it in the tank and preserve the man's reputation.

Posted by jackie treehorn on December 30, 2008 at 11:33 AM
5
Speaking as a dude who never even heard of the Watchmen or Spirit before I saw the previews, they both looked really dumb. But anything that makes Fox spend money on lawyers is OK by me...
Posted by Uncle Vinny on December 30, 2008 at 11:42 AM
6
Look at Warners go! They weren't so stroppy about intellectual property rights when they were planning those Watchmen action figures, that Alan Moore had specifically vetoed in his contract with them.
Posted by --MC on December 30, 2008 at 11:44 AM
7
March 6 is my birthday!

I hope it gets postponed, because then I won't be tempted to go on opening night without knowing if it's a complete bomb or not. Even Rotten Tomatoes is fucking worthles…
Posted by w7ngman on December 30, 2008 at 11:50 AM
8
The calender says "Complaining about a family movie being #1 while the kids are out on winter break is really stupid."
Posted by MrMom on December 30, 2008 at 11:51 AM
9
The Internets couldn't do shit to WB for delaying the latest Harry Potter. I don't think Fox is quaking on their Aussie dingo boots.
Posted by Big Sven on December 30, 2008 at 11:51 AM
10
#4 is on the money. This is directed by the same dude behind 300. What are the odds that they DIDN'T fuck it up?
Posted by Jay Andrew Allen on December 30, 2008 at 11:52 AM
11
Zach Snyder's an ass-- I bet WB asked him what movie property he wanted to do (on the heels of his 'success' with 300 --aka "freedom isn't free"), and he said WATCHMEN, WB peed their pants, and greenlit the project without vetting the rights-- like the GOP and Palin.

And that fanboy needs a punch in the face. Seriously, get a life...
Posted by Vlad on December 30, 2008 at 12:25 PM
12
Actually, the folks over at io9 make a good case for boycotting Fox's film division purely on it's own merits... the majority of their releases are pure crap anyway, so it wouldn't be that hard to avoid them entirely.
Posted by UNPAID COMMENTER on December 30, 2008 at 1:24 PM
13
@11:

Given the propensity for projects to get swapped back-and-forth between studios like herpes at the Playboy Mansion, I could imagine a scenario in which FOX managed to retain some residual rights to the product (in this case the not-insignificant distribution rights) even after essentially turning it around and releasing it to Gordon, but it's certainly not common.

Studio lawyers get paid ridiculous sums to ensure such situations DON'T occur, so if the judge's ruling stands on appeal, it would mean somebody REALLY dropped the proverbial ball on this one.
Posted by COMTE on December 30, 2008 at 1:38 PM
14
I agree with Uncle Vinny.

But I'll probably end up watching both when they come out on IFC.
Posted by Will in Seattle on December 30, 2008 at 1:49 PM
15
Sweet baby Jesus... Hellboy 2 got an 88 on Rotten Tomatoes?!

I've officially lost all hope in that site.
Posted by UNPAID COMMENTER on December 30, 2008 at 1:54 PM
16
Snyder did change the ending in the movie. I'm not sure how I feel about that since the ending in the comic was a bit underwhelming anyway.
Posted by laterite on December 30, 2008 at 2:13 PM
17
i think Alan Moore, DC, Warners and Fox should all sue Tim Kring and NBC/Universal for stealing tons of stuff from Watchmen for that shitty Heroes...
Posted by michael strangeways on December 30, 2008 at 2:28 PM

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