RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media "Watchmen" movie coming soon!!

Nikki Finke is reporting at Deadline Hollywood that a federal judge has denied Warner Bros.’ motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox’s attempt to preclude the production of Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen” film, a development that could potentially have immense ramifications for WB in 2009.

In February of this year, Fox filed a lawsuit to prevent the WB project from going forward, claiming Fox had the exclusive rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on the hugely popular DC Comics graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Warner Bros. motioned for a dismissal of the lawsuit, and U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess denied WB’s motion last Friday. No decision has yet been made regarding Fox’s desire for an injunction of the entire WB project.
A Fox source told Finke, “"While the Judge's opinion is preliminary and his views could change in the course of the litigation, his current take on the facts is consistent with our position."

This news comes after the recent announcement that the Warner Bros. film “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” would be rescheduled from this November to instead premiere in 2009. Should 20th Century Fox manage to secure any profit from Warner’s “Watchmen,” the studio will need to count on the revenue generated by the Harry Potter film to maximize the year’s earnings.

Of Fox’s claim to the rights to “Watchmen,” Finke’s source said, “In essence, the Judge appears to conclude that Fox retained distribution rights in Watchmen through the 1991 Largo quit claim, and he concludes that, under the 1994 turnaround with producer Larry Gordon, Gordon acquired an option to acquire Fox's remaining interest in Watchmen that was never exercised, thereby leaving Fox with its rights under the 1994 agreement.”

More on this as it develops.

the G-man ass-kicky User Palin Maniac
15000+ posts Mon Sep 22 2008 11:38 PM Making a new reply
Forum: Media
Thread: Re: Watchmen Film Lawsuit Update

If true, count me as one of those now actually happy about the lawsuit. I've wanted the 1960s Batman on (non crappy bootleg) DVD for years.

Looking forward to spanking it on a freeze frame of Julie Newmar, huh?

Over at Lying in the Gutters, Rich Johnston reports that the Watchmen lawsuit may be less about Rorshach, et al, and more about the 1960s "Batman" series:

• Sources tell me that Fox want the 1960s Batman TV series. Currently Fox own the TV footage, but Warner Bros own the characters and trademarks, via their ownership of DC Comics. The rights to a DVD release have been held up for a long time now, and this case looks like it may be the instrument to release them.
  
  Oh, Fox will get a wodge of cash as well - many millions of dollars it seems. But it seems they also want the rights to release the Adam West-starring Batman on DVD, something long denied fans of the series. And Warners will get the “Watchmen” film, to release as planned.
  
  There were comic fans who threatened Fox boycotts over what they saw as their scuppering of the Watchmen movie. Looks like they may soon have cause to thank Fox for this action.

If true, count me as one of those now actually happy about the lawsuit. I've wanted the 1960s Batman on (non crappy bootleg) DVD for years.

Looking forward to spanking it on a freeze frame of Julie Newmar, huh?

I was invited on Wednesday to a screening of over twenty minutes of footage from "Watchmen," and I have to say that it looks like Snyder has done the impossible. The scenes had some unfinished visual effects and temporary music, but already I was able to get a sense of the energy and uncompromising dedication to the original text that Snyder is bringing to the film.

We were first shown the opening twelve minutes of the movie, which begins with the attack on the Comedian (Jeffery Dean Morgan). In the comics, this scene is only ever presented in flashbacks, but here it is a brutal fistfight that leads up to a breathtaking shot following the Comedian as he's tossed out the window of his high-rise. The action here is reminiscent of the slow-to-fast motion of the fight scenes in "300," but the setting feels more tangible, since it was shot on sets and not entirely in front of green screens.

This leads into the opening credits sequence that retells the history of the book's alternate universe from the '30s through the '70s, set to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'." Avid fans will spot countless references to images and events from the book, but newcomers will quickly get a sense of the world where superheroes not only exist but directly impact major historical events.

We saw two more scenes from later in the film. First they showed the origin of Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), a physicist transformed in an accident into a blue-skinned superman who manipulates matter with a wave of his hand. Then we saw the prison break scene where costumed heroes Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson) and Silk Spectre (Malin Ackerman) bust out their comrade Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley). It's obvious from the footage we saw that the filmmakers are delivering an R-rated, adult movie that is not going to soften the novel's violent, sexual, or political content.

I asked Snyder after the screening what reactions he has received from people who haven't read the book. He said he has shown the film to people who don't know the novel and they have been able to follow the story and get a feel for the movie's twisted reality. He also said that for the first time as a filmmaker he wishes he could forget his whole history with the project and watch the movie with fresh eyes.

Snyder said that currently the film's running time is at two hours and forty-five minutes, but a later DVD edition will expand it with the addition of an animated story-within-the-story. We'll have to wait until March 6th to see the full film,...

SCI FI Wire is hosting the new video journal for Warner Brothers Pictures' Watchmen, coming to theaters on March 6, 2009.

Creating the indestructible man, the video, "Blue Monday," offers a look behind the scenes at how director Zack Snyder and his team brought Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) to life.

Based on the seminal graphic novel, the mystery adventure is set in an alternate-universe 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society.

When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed-up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley) sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes.

Watchmen also stars Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl, Matthew Goode as Ozymandias, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian and Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre.