The studios are set to present their settlement to U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess on Friday morning and ask that the case be dismissed. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but it was believed that Fox were to receive a large cash payment from Warner, plus a percentage of the box office receipts.
In addition, Fox will not have any ownership stake in the film, or future films, and will not be distributing the film as well. The studios were said to announce this joint venture on Friday morning.
Watchmen will be released nationwide on March 6.
UPDATE: (9:30 AM PST) Both Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox have released this joint statement announcing the settlement.
Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox have resolved their dispute regarding the rights to the upcoming motion picture Watchmen in a confidential settlement. Warner Bros acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography. Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith in defending against those claims Warner Bros. and Fox, like all Watchmen fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film's March 6 release in theatres.
Watchmen was released March 6th, 2009 and stars Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.
Comments (41)
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T.Clark
watchmenmovie.com has been updated. It's pretty sweet
3 years agoby @insertusernamehereFlag
ZanyZap
I still don't care...
3 years agoby @zanyzapFlag
monkey03
HELL YES!
3 years agoby @monkey03Flag
Diaigma
Good to hear. Fox knew their reputation was going down the toilet with this fiasco. They don't want to lose any money on Avatar now do they?
Can't wait to see.
3 years agoby @diaigmaFlag
-comrade-
Fox had nor right, but I suppose whatever gets them of WB's backs.
3 years agoby @taberjohnson18Flag
Structure (ONSTRA)
YES yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. DO YOU KNOWWW HOW MUCH OF HAPYNESS IS IN ME RIGHT NOWWW.
WELL I CAN WATCH AUSTRALIA AND MARLEY AND ME is a secondary thing the important thing is WATCHMEN IS BACK ON THE MARCH 6. less than 2 month and the world will shout "SAVE US" , but rorsach would say "NO".
3 years agoby @gaj1992Flag
Lock and Stock
Great ive been waiting for this movie all my life.
3 years agoby @m-man360Flag
Shadow Of The Day
Great news.
3 years agoby @asifFlag
J.A.Ottley.Writer / Director
They would be future cuts not future films.
But thanks JohnJohston for another example
3 years agoby @chronicFlag
JT's Movie Page
Even if a film is a one shot deal like Watchmen, the studio will still treat it like a franchise and defend it as such. Warner Bros. is probably not looking at making future films but, instead, are securing their future rights for the film. Also, by giving Fox a large sum of money and part of the ticket sales with no ownership to the material, they secure their exclusive rights to DVD and Blu-Ray sales without Fox being able to interfere. Finally, Director's Cuts and Unrated releases can also be legally considered future films because they would have to be reevaluated for the new scenes added later.
3 years agoby @johnjohnson7777Flag
J.A.Ottley.Writer / Director
BEFORE YOU STATE ON FUTURE FILMS PLZ READ THIS :)
FUTURE FILM -
The definition is a mediatrical term stating that if Warner Bros decide to continue the franchise then Fox get nothing, which i doubt there will be a continuation of the franchise since there is only one Watchmen.
But to give a current exampular
Fox get a box-office revenue percentage of Watchmen
Warner Bros get the complete profits to 'Tales of the Black Freighter'
So in brief and base, Fox only get a large cash sum probably for damages and subsidary copyright infringement, and they receive a percentage of the box office revenue, which will probably be i don't know 7 - 10 percent
3 years agoby @chronicFlag
AnnoyingFilmCritic
Was there ever any doubt? It was just posturing for profits.
3 years agoby @annoyingfilmcriticFlag
-comrade-
Alan Moore agrees with us too. Not that he ever wanted a screen adaptation, but I think that if Gilliam had been given the sprawl to make this into a five/six part miniseries it would have been
REALLY good.
"the money fox got it is probably how many tards go see the this film, because of the hype that it got from this stunt! yawn ..."
blob, nothing can describe how error-filled and idiotic that sentence is, aside from actually not making ANY sense, it demonstrates shortsightedness. The hype doesn't come from the lawsuit, it came from expectant fans getting pissed off. What the f*ck do you mean by "the money fox got it is probably how many tards go see the this film," The money is how many tards. Thinks about that. think about it hard. Okay, your brain exploded if you followed my instructions, so I don't have to worry about it any more.
3 years agoby @taberjohnson18Flag
John2347
Thank god its finally f*cking over
3 years agoby @john2347Flag
PandemicWarZ0ne
finally, that's good
3 years agoby @pandemicwarz0neFlag
Err
good sh*t. glad to hear it.
3 years agoby @err2005Flag
Space101
About damn time this is settled!
3 years agoby @space101Flag
Saquin Turok 'X'
It's nice to actually have some good news for a change to lift the financial gloom, even if just a little bit.
3 years agoby @teesterxFlag
T.Clark
Very good
3 years agoby @insertusernamehereFlag
The Narrator: The Better Man
I agree Comrade. Miniseries would have been way better. But that's life.
3 years agoby @narratorFlag
Billyboy
It's not a "joint venture". It's FOX demanding money with menace but we've gone over (and over) that on other Watchmen threads. Roll on March 6th! FOY wil be happy when he see's this thread.
oh and PMSL at JohnJohnson77 "all of you people judge"? is that you judging everyone? You're angry at people for discussing movies on a movie discussion website? lol Hope you're day brightens up for you mate.
3 years agoby @billyboyFlag
Chad Vital
johnjohnson, I understand what you're saying, but for me personally, only 2 movies let me down. They were Spiderman 3 as you said, and I Am Legend. I expected more out of IAL, especially better cgi. I wasn't really disapointed in Qauntum of Solace, but it wasn't AS good as Casino Royale, but it still had it's sweet parts in it like the ending bf/necklace scene lol.
3 years agoby @chad-vitalFlag
cyberrblob
the money fox got it is probably how many tards go see the this film, because of the hype that it got from this stunt! yawn ...
3 years agoby @cyberrblobFlag
hihodiddily
Terrific news.
3 years agoby @messiahbolicalFlag
thelord3003
This is great news fellas!!! Let just for now sit back...and wait for the date to come!!!
3 years agoby @thelord3003Flag
-comrade-
I have never assumed that this film will be great. I actually have low expectations, but it's the only attempt out of five to make the movie that has succeeded, at least to the point of actually completing a film. I owe it to mysaelf as a patron of the book to see this interpretation, both the abridged theatrical version and the later Director's Cut.
So, Fox is getting a cut, but none of the distribution or proprietary rights. They had no right in the first place, but wave a little money in their faces and they go away. Like a stupid dog. A stupid, greedy, soulless, f*cktarded dog. And anyone who works for that dog deserves a punch in the face.
My bitterness fades.
The Fallen has a point, the idea of further films makes me nervous. Perhaps they mean alternate cuts? Or maybe it will be adapted into miniseries, as it should have been.
3 years agoby @taberjohnson18Flag
The Narrator: The Better Man
Hallelujah. But what do they mean by "future films"?!?!? Watchmen is stand alone. No prequels or sequels necessary.
3 years agoby @narratorFlag
JT's Movie Page
Jesus Christ. Why the hell do all of you people judge a film before it even comes out. And I'm not just talking about people who bash a film before it even comes out like Moviemaniack has done all this time over Watchmen (like he did last year with the Dark Knight, as well.) The people who constantly say that they think this film is going to rock and compare it to great films like The Dark Knight are just as bad because they have set themselves up with so much hype that nine times out of ten, they are disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I'm guilty of this as well. When Spider-Man 3 trailers started popping up, I thought it was going to be the biggest film of the year when it ended up being the biggest disappointment of the year. Like MovieBuff said, "You're just putting the cart in front of the horse..."
Anyway, sorry about the rant. For some reason today this just bothers me. I'll be in better mood next time. Until then, enjoy the movies.
3 years agoby @johnjohnson7777Flag
Vamp
Besides, I loved "The Dark Knight" as much as the rest of you did. OK, that was a lie. I loved "The Dark Knight," but not as much as EVERYONE on here did. lolz. I loved it for what it was: A really good movie.
3 years agoby @vampire2000Flag
Vamp
Thank you Chad.
3 years agoby @vampire2000Flag