A Los Angeles federal judge has ruled that 20th Century Fox owns the distribution rights to "Watchmen," representing a setback for Warner Bros.' plans to release the pic in March.

“Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” the ruling said.

Judge Gary Allen Feess issued the surprise ruling Wednesday -- a week after setting a Jan. 20 trial date for Fox's suit -- and indicated he would issue a more detailed ruling soon. Warner spokesman Scott Rowe declined to comment.

Warner Bros. has not backed off a release date of March 6 for "Watchmen," directed by Zack Snyder and starring Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley.

Fox filed the suit in February, contending it retains distribution rights to the graphic novel penned by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

The suit asserts that producer Lawrence Gordon's option to acquire Fox's remaining interest in "Watchmen" was never exercised, thereby leaving Fox with its rights under a 1994 turnaround agreement. Warner Bros. has denied Fox's assertions and contended Fox doesn't hold the copyright.

Fox originally acquired the rights to "Watchmen" in the late 1980s and spent more than $1 million developing the project, which later went to Universal and then Paramount before landing at Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.

This sucks. Here's hoping for a 2011 release. :undecided:

Damn!

Goddamn, that sucks. I bet a lot of people hate 20th Century Fox a lot more right now. Also, there was an ad for Watchmen merchandise on this page when I read it. Heh.

:lol: Same for when I posted it.

I had to read the article again just to make sure I was reading it right. Fox just lot an entire audience because of this one petty thing.

fox rules YEAAAAAAH!!!

Damn. At least you can watch the brand new Sci Fi hit Dollhouse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollhouse_%28TV_series%29), Fridays on FOX to take up the time.

Another reason why I hate FOX.

fox rules YEAAAAAAH!!!

Care to explain this comment?

Sounds kinda self-explanatory to me....the man just loves him some Fox....YEEEEEEEHAAAAA!!!!

I'm trying to figure out whether or not he's happy that Watchmen will most likely get delayed because of this lawsuit, or if he misinterpreted the article.

well that sucks!

Son of a bitch, Fox. I NEEDZ MAH WATCHMEN! I NEEDZ IT! Frickin' fake news and stealing away the greatest movie ever.... Douches.

greedy f***heads. If fox is going to make us wait then I want THEM to make a Watchmen movie and have it out by this year and it BETTER BE DAMNED GOOD!

I'm trying to figure out whether or not he's happy that Watchmen will most likely get delayed because of this lawsuit, or if he misinterpreted the article.

No, I just think FOX ROCK!!! they should win any thing and everything without reason.. WOO!

Even at the expense of a movie that a huge population of people have been waiting to see?

Son of a bitch, Fox. I NEEDZ MAH WATCHMEN! I NEEDZ IT! Frickin' fake news and stealing away the greatest movie ever.... Douches.


Wouldn't it suck if the director and others would suddenly "lose track" of a copy of Watchmen and it accidentally got on The Pirate Bay? Let's hope that doesn't happen.

o well here's hoping for 2010

I'm gonna go kill myself. Seriously, this is bizarre. They should have had this done during the production of the film.

Damn. At least you can watch the brand new Sci Fi hit Dollhouse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollhouse_%28TV_series%29), Fridays on FOX to take up the time.

There gonna cancel this fast... "Firefly" all over again.
F*ck

You know really you should all be mad at Warner Brothers not Fox. They new that Fox was disputing the rights before they started shooting. Yet they went ahead and shot it anyway. From what I have read about the case it sounds like Fox actually has a legitimate claim.

I doubt it will be delayed however. They will most likely settle before then.

I hate fox but it still has a 2009 release date (i think)

Wouldn't it suck if the director and others would suddenly "lose track" of a copy of Watchmen and it accidentally got on The Pirate Bay? Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Yes... it would 'suck' were that to happen...

Well Fox filed the lawsuit nearly a year ago, so it could have been settled earlier, and if they do indeed have the rights then I blame Warner brothers for not fixing this earlier.

The only reason fox is doing this is for the money. They acquired the license to a watchmen movie a while back, however, they didn't do anything with it. They then see that somebody else is releasing it and sue, even though they weren't even making the movie. Also anybody else wonder why they sued after the first few trailers came out rather than during the main production?

I'm surprised Fox decides to do something like this, I'm sure they could've made as much or even more then the lawsuit if they had just let the movie go on. Now I'll just have to go back to Antarctica and chill with my penguin buddies till I hear any good news.

Wow...just wow.

I blame George Bush.

The only people you can blame is the Warner Brothers. They made a mistake earlier on and it's coming back to f*ck them over.

The only reason fox is doing this is for the money. They acquired the license to a watchmen movie a while back, however, they didn't do anything with it. They then see that somebody else is releasing it and sue, even though they weren't even making the movie. Also anybody else wonder why they sued after the first few trailers came out rather than during the main production?

Yes but according to the judge they did acquire the license legitimately. Under the terms Fox bought the Watchmen license in 1994 Lawrence Gordon would have to buy their interest from them. Otherwise Fox would have rights to distribute the film.

Lawrence Gordon then went and made a deal with WB to make the film. WB knew that they didn't have the full rights to Watchmen before they started shooting but went ahead and did it anyway.

I imagine that Fox has been looking for some cash to let WB make the movie for a while. But when it was getting close to release with no settlement they force the issue by suing them.

Its crappy but I am mad at WB not Fox. Studios buy the rights for properties all the time and sit on them. It isn't anything new. Its just rare to see something like this happen when the parties don't settle in advance.

I just really hope that this movie makes its release date. I did some good work on this and am really hoping to put the shots on my demo reel before the end of ' 09.

Hurry up and settle WB!

Even at the expense of a movie that a huge population of people have been waiting to see?

Yess.