The final fate of the Watchmen movie could be determined next week. Later today–January 7th–Fox and Warner Bros. are scheduled to meet with the judge to discuss the next steps in the case.
As FilmEsq explains in more detail, the parties have agreed that the next proceeding should “be limited to the question of whether Fox is entitled to a permanent injunction” on the film’s distribution. If Fox were to prevail, the film would likely not be released without a settlement or action on appeal. The current date for the next hearing is set for January 20th, but Warner Bros., citing the urgency of resolving the matter, has asked for it to be moved up to next Monday, January 12th.
The question of whether the judge should grant the injunction involves some rather technical points of law. One key factor in the movie’s fate will be the judge’s perception of relative hardship. For example, the judge in the Bratz case recently decided that the harm to the manufacturer was severe enough to warrant modifying the court’s previous order to stop production and sale of the dolls.
For anyone who wants to read both sides’ arguments and their joint stipulation about the scope of future proceedings, here are some of the most relevant documents.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Please Please Please. Warner and Fox. For the fans sake. SORT THIS OUT. Put ego’s aside. Settle it and give us, the fans, the people who pump money into your pockets, what WE want. The customer is always right? Well we, the customers, all say, just do what it takes to get the damn film out on time!
January 7th, 2009 at 8:03 am
The only true way to pay the due respects to Moore’s creation is for the film to never be officially released and for only illegal bootleg copies to be put into circulation…
‘Nuff said.
January 7th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Us? The fans? Fans of what exactly? Any true ‘fan’ of Watchmen has already read and enjoyed the book numerous times, quite aware all the time that the pleasure derives in great part with how the work plays with its medium. Any adaptation into any other medium is pointless and only going to reduce its worth, whether to film, pop-up book or radio play. If, on the other hand, you mean fans of comic book movies then, please, go find some other work to pillage.
Well done to Alan Moore for successfully cursing this thing from across the ocean!
January 7th, 2009 at 8:58 am
I’d love for this thing to go the way of the Star Wars Holiday Special or the Roger Corman F.F. movie.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Yes, it will certainly be blocked from ever being released.
Because 20th Century Fox can’t wait to include in their annual report that they spent a couple hundred thousand dollars for the sole purpose of teaching Warner Brothers a good lesson. They’ll have to change the rules of accounting and add a third column; debit, credit and spite.
NOTHING in Hollywood, nay, in all of America, is done for any reason other than to make money, or to prevent the loss of money. Especially if there are lawyers involved.
If some fundamental law of the universe breaks and this film gets permanently blocked on January 20th, it will be available for free on the web on January 21. Don’t worry, you’ll get to see the film one way or another.
January 7th, 2009 at 10:00 am
The only way to honor Moore’s creation is to not have the movie released? Come on. The man created work for another company to own. That’s the same thing Geoff Johns, Bendis, and Millar do every month. DC has the right to put out a movie based on any of its properties.
January 7th, 2009 at 10:43 am
@villainous
Moore created work for DC to own, yes. But he did so under false pretenses. The original contract between Moore/Gibbons and DC was that they would get ALL of the rights to Watchmen (including film rights) back after it had been out-of-print for a year. Back in those days, nothing was collected into trades, comics were out-of-print by the next month, and (unless you were underground) creator’s rights were a pipe dream. That was the context in which Alan Moore signed the contract. He had every reason to believe that he was getting a really good deal and that he would have the rights back in a very short period of time. But he did his job too well, changed the face of comics forever, and guaranteed that Watchmen would never go out of print.
Now, is THAT fair? Alan Moore has been punished for doing his job TOO WELL. Is that how things are supposed to work?
January 7th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Alan Moore is being paid, WELL, for Watchmen’s success. He has eschewed all moneys for the films (and that takes more integrity than I have, I can tell you) but he’s still happily cashing the checks for the book.
The thing that got him angrier than anything else were those damn buttons. DC claimed the collectible button set they put out durung the original run of the book were not toys or licensed material (which Moore would get a cut of) but promotional material (from which he would get ugatz). That one weasel-deal did more to sour Moore on DC than anything they ever did.
January 7th, 2009 at 11:38 am
@Jose Cemi
I’m sorry, that “anyone TRUE fan of Watchmen” comment was just plan ridiculous. Just because the views of some of us differ from that of Alan Moore. That doesnt mean we are not TRUE fans as you put it. I am well aware Moore’s feeling on the matter as it is a large part of my study at the moment. Yet i would love to see it as a film. It doesnt mean i or anyone else who agrees with me doesnt fully appreciate the book. I dont know if this film is going to be any good, but i’d like to see for myself. As would alot of people.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Guillermo del Toro created “El Mariachi” for $9000. Does he get all hacked off that he doesn’t get a lions’ share of the profits from the movie?
No, he created another one. And another one.
And guess what? Pretty soon we forget all about El Mariachi because Guillermo has done such a great job on his movies.
I consider myself a huge fan of Watchman, and even if some of the fanboys on this site won’t recognize me as such, piss off. I’m not automatically going to take Alan Moore’s side on things. I share the widespread belief that he is a phenomenally talented writer who has been recognized to the point that he is able to make his own decisions about what to do, irrespective of whatever DC has to say. I would consider that to be successful. But just because I have that opinion doesn’t mean I’m going to sign off automatically when someone is being an a**hat.
There are some artists who quite frankly get off on creating scandal and controversy. There are fanboys that can’t wait to lick their collective arses and feed the frenzy.
Meh.
If you don’t like the book, don’t buy it. If you don’t want to go see a movie, then don’t go. Encourage creators to take risks, and encourage publishers to support those creators, ’cause that’s what makes the world go round.
But don’t encourage people whose goal seems to be leaving the world a darker place just to satisfy their ego.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
@Brian “Guillermo del Toro created “El Mariachi” for $9000.”
Actually, it was Robert Rodriguez for roughly $7000 (before the money that Columbia put into it). And he actually went on to make two more Mariachi movies (Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico) for them.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
“Any adaptation into any other medium is pointless and only going to reduce its worth, whether to film, pop-up book or radio play.”
It’s true. I’m trying to figure out a way to keep my copy of Watchmen from disintegrating once the movie is released and I’m not able to read and enjoy it any more. Because, y’know, that’s what happens. Honest.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Can anyone say marketing?
Free publicity?
Hype?
This will be settled quickly with a percent to both parties and lo & behold……. a blockbuster!
Advertising costs so far – $0.00
January 7th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Dear Matt,
I’m pretty sure lawyers cost money.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
@Kamikazi:
“‘“Any adaptation into any other medium is pointless and only going to reduce its worth, whether to film, pop-up book or radio play.’
It’s true. I’m trying to figure out a way to keep my copy of Watchmen from disintegrating once the movie is released and I’m not able to read and enjoy it any more. Because, y’know, that’s what happens. Honest.”
Not the worth of the original but of the adaptation. ‘Its’ modifies ‘adaptation’– the subject of the sentence. Lemme guess: you’re still peeved that the movie version of your elementary school grammar textbook was blocked by a big corporate lawsuit?
January 7th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons are not Siegel and Shuster and were hardly “cheated” out of the rights to WATCHMEN. They signed an above industry standard contract at the time, but unfortunately didn’t include a sunset clause but a more open ended reversion clause. That said, no one anticipated that WATCHMEN would be such a success that multiple printings would be warranted. DC has kept WATCHMEN in print due to demand, not due to spite. There are plenty of worse deals than DC keeping the book in print, updating the coloring, etc. over the years, and paying Moore and Gibbons steady royalties.
Moreover, Moore and Gibbons willingly sold the movie rights in that deal. Which were bought before any of Moore and Gibbons’ issues with DC. Moore may have “sellers remorse” over the whole deal, but that’s all on him. DC didn’t trick him out of those rights in any shape or manner. (And, it’s worth noting that Dave Gibbons doesn’t seem to have any regrets about that deal. His opinion is relevant too.)
January 7th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Everyone should check out the Japanese Watchmen trailer posted by newsarama!
Plenty to be excited about here, but no surprises.
Zack Snyder put himself in position to do just this: realize Watchmen as fully as possible.
The U.S. trailers are cool. The Japanese trailer transcends.
No wonder Murdoch|Fox want this crushed. It ain’t about the money, folks.
January 7th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Funny, Kamikazi, but the movie of Sin City was seriously so unbelievably terrible that it completely robbed me of the desire to reread my collection of Sin City comics ever again.
January 7th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Wow…Jose Cemi, great job aping Alan Moore. Did you have to pay him a royalty on that line?
“quite aware all the time that the pleasure derives in great part with how the work plays with its medium. Any adaptation into any other medium is pointless and only going to reduce its worth, whether to film, pop-up book or radio play. If, on the other hand, you mean fans of comic book movies then, please, go find some other work to pillage.”
January 8th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Finally, some intelligent posts regarding the Watchmen, but more specifically Alan Moore. I am sure Alan Moore is in North Hampton, laughing at the curse he placed on the movie, not that that really has anything to do with the legal status, but he has to be happy. As for me, a fan, I think the movie looks good, and I’d like to see it at 12:01 am on 3/6/9. If I cant, I’ll just re read the trade.
January 8th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Amen AdamUnRama.