Fox and Warner Brothers have had a few days over the holiday weekend to ponder their next moves in the distribution rights battle for The Watchmen film. Something nasty must have been in the eggnog because both sides have come out swinging.
Fox is aggressively pursuing an injunction against the March 6, 2009 release date after the Los Angeles courts ruled Warner infringed on Fox’s rights to the Watchmen property by developing a film.
Warner, having already invested millions in development and marketing costs on The Watchmen, do not seem interested in trying to settle Fox’s claims out of court. In a statement issued today, Warner commented: “We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the court’s ruling and are exploring all of our appellate options… 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.”
Up until this point a settlement seemed like the only viable resolution that would keep The Watchmen on track for its March release. Today’s news will undoubtedly prolong the squabble and threatens not only the film releasing in March, but the swelling fan anticipation and positive hype steadily increasing since Comic-Con last July.
This ain’t pretty, folks. Unless one or both sides have an unlikely change of heart, this film and more so the relationship between Fox and Warner will be deeply scarred.
