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VIDEO: Why Is Fox’s Sister Company Hosting New ‘Watchmen’ Sneak Peek?
UPDATE: Warner Bros just issued this statement after today’s status conference in federal court in Los Angeles to determine how to proceed in the Watchmen case after Juge Gary Feess concluded that Fox is entitled to summary judgment on its copyright infringement claim and has the right “at the very least” to distribute the motion picture set for release in March. I’m told that Warner Bros is looking for leverage to help it in negotiating with Fox:
“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. We have no plans to move the release date of the film.”
- WATCHMEN RULING: Where Was Larry?
- SHOCKER! Federal Judge To Side With Fox In Warner Bros ‘Watchmen’ Film Lawsuit
- ‘Watchmen’ Contracts & Court Documents
- SAVE US! Warner’s ‘Watchmen’ In Legal Peril After Judge Won’t Dismiss Fox Suit
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I don’t get it. Why didn’t Fox try to stop Warner Brothers from filming Watchmen in the first place???
Leverage = pictures of Chernin or Murdoch fucking a goat.
I’d love to see the contract that gives them ownership of a film made by someone else ten years after they stopped trying to make it. I mean, whatever happened to the legal precedent of Finder Keepers V. Losers Weepers?
How ineptly does any major studio’s legal department need to be run in order for a screw-up of WB’s magnitude to occur, for heaven’s sake? Accurately determining whether or not one has legitimately acquired full rights to any given property before actually blundering ahead and sinking a small fortune into adapting said property really, truly ought to come under the heading of “first principles,” oughtn’t it…?
Un. be. LIEV. able. No sympathy for Warners on this end whatsoever.
Leverage? What leverage. Is WB going to claim the rights to X-Men now?
I think typically the judge will try to encourage the parties to settle during the status conference and assume Warner may leverage the fact it can appeal the lower court’s decision to put some pressure on fox.
alan moore will be delighted at this catastrophe…
Fuck you, Fox! Go fuck yourselves! You suck! Your movies suck! Rupert Murdoch sucks! Tom Rothman sucks! You’re the epitome of suckiness.
I know Warner Bros. fucked up big time. This’ll teach them a very big lesson. But that still doesn’t change the fact that 20th Century Fox are a bunch of fucking scumbags. We should boycott all their movies, including Wolverine, Night at the Museum II, Ice Age 3. Yes, even James Cameron’s Avatar!
Jeez. Face it, Warners screwed up royally by not clearing all the rights before they started shooting (blame it on Larry Gordon or not — they needed to be sure all rights were cleared). You can’t just build a house on some else’s land without permission. Warners has been somewhat reckless in the past with rights issues and this one is now coming back to bite them in the ass.
We continue to believe that Fox’s claims have no merit
“We’re Warner Brothers. We don’t ‘do’ due diligence. We don’t have to.”
Good for Warners for not giving in to the bullying tactics.
Whatever the failure on WB’s part for proper due diligence, what could have prompted a judge to hand over judgement in favor of a party that sat on its rights for YEARS with no explanation whatsoever, while others did all the hard work? Surely a better, more nuanced judgement could have been reached than this!
When all is said and done, and all the timelines unraveled, even if it turns out that Fox does have some right in the property, shouldn’t some sort of doctrine of penalties, or doctrine of forfeiture apply at least in principle? Why should Fox be able to profit from their gross negligence, or intentional misconduct, or whatever it is they thought they were doing in not saying anything up until now?
Yes, there are lots of monies involved, what with possible potential grosses of the movie, but that’s the very point. Companies shouldn’t be encouraged to sit on their rights and then suddenly, arbitrarily disrupt the business of others, and see not a penalty from it, but rather a big fat killing. If this was how contracts worked, who would get involved?
What the hell was in Fox’s complaint to warrant such a decision, and so suddenly??
Ok, I have an idea. WB creates a new script and shoots a crappy little art house flick with Phillip Glass music and gives Fox first rights on that.
Alright, that might not work, but I hope WB gets creative.
This is all pointless. No matter who ends it distrusting it, this movie will be the next “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,” there is no interest at all from anyone but geeks. The trailers have been awful.
Just because somebody is sitting on the rights to a screen property, that doesn’t give somebody else permission to shoot it. If that’s the case, a third party would have shot “Stranger in a Strange Land,” “The Front Runner” or “Rubyfruit Jungle” decades ago, ’cause that’s how long those rights have been locked up. There’s a piece missing here: why did Fox wait till now to file, except to be pissy? They could have sought an injunction when breakdowns went out. Oh, this one is gonna be gooooood.
Do we know when Fox first learned of Warner’s plan to make Watchmen? I recall seeing my first preview of Watchmen a while ago and hearing about the lawsuit shortly thereafter.
Who knew WB’s rights and clearances staff post comments on DHD (see quotes below)? You would think that they would be more cautious after “The Dukes of Hazzard.” Instead, think not. I’m sure Nikki has already posted about that in comparison to their “Watchmen” situation. As it goes, those that don’t learn from the past…
“I don’t get it. Why didn’t Fox try to stop Warner Brothers from filming Watchmen in the first place?”
“I’d love to see the contract that gives them ownership of a film made by someone else ten years after they stopped trying to make it. I mean, whatever happened to the legal precedent of Finder Keepers V. Losers Weepers?”
“Whatever the failure on WB’s part for proper due diligence, what could have prompted a judge to hand over judgement in favor of a party that sat on its rights for YEARS with no explanation whatsoever, while others did all the hard work?”
Dear Warner Brothers Executives:
I caused all of this to happen with a flick of my wand.
How you gonna mess with me? I am the Chosen One, motherfuckers! The Boy Who Lived, He Who Must Not Be Fucked With!
You cross me again and you will wake up and find that the Weinsteins own Batman, Superman and that piece of shit water tower on your lot!
You hear that Warner Bitches?
DON’T EVER MOVE ONE OF MY FILMS AGAIN!!
Peace.
Here we go again …
For those who questioned how this could possibly happen (and no, I do not work for WB), trust me – its VERY easy.
Chain of Title review is a chore which the lawyer will get thrust upon them as part of an acquisition. It is an assignment which is awful and everyone is yelling at the lawyer to get it done (because it, arguably, is holding up the rights).
That aside, Hollywood is a land where everyone who touches a project puts their stink on it. I remember a potential acquisition many years ago which went south because it had changed hands so many times that it had SEVEN guaranteed producer credits just from people who had touched it before (putting aside any money these people wanted). Of course, we didn’t touch it. Take that as a lesson, all you screenwriters, never let a producer attach themself to your project in the abstract, or it can quickly become overburdened with what is called ‘baggage’.
Anyway, as part of the stink people put on it, they can keep a piece of the pie. As things change hands over and over it becomes very difficult to figure out who got what. Making it worse, as time progresses, and no one knows really what they have, they transfer the rights via a quitclaim. A quitclaim is a way of saying “I am not going to tell you what I have, but I promise you that you now have everything I had, and I will make no claims about ownership.” That’s great and all but that doesn’t tell you anything. You then have to start chasing down what documents THEY might have had, and pretty soon it is easy enough to not have the complete picture.
Since everyone is saying “this is all I have by way of documents” and “you have what I have as far as rights” pretty soon you either think you have everything because that’s all you were told OR someone has to make a business judgment that whatever holes there are in the chain, are a minor risk.
I have no idea which of these was the basis of WB going forward, but what I want you all to take away from this is that chain review can be extremely complicated and it is VERY easy to see how this could happen.
Ella– I’ve read that Fox called Warners out on these on these rights circa the Larry Gordon deal before shooting even started on the current version but Warners gave them the brush off. That’s how this whole mess finally made it to court.
This is a real dick move on Fox’s part. They already got what they wanted. Why delay the release? It will do nothing but piss off the fans. Are they actually trying to mess around with us? This is crazy. I understand they have the rights to Watchmen, but now they are just being cruel.
Fox officially sucks. I think fans should hold a protest outside Fox studios. I know that won’t happen, but I’m just throwing the idea out there. Fox needs to know that while they are fucking around trying to mess up Watchmen for no other apparent reason other than spite, they are seriously making a lot of fans nervous.
A Fox boycott will accomplish nothing. But it will make me feel better. I will not see any Fox movies until I see Watchmen. I would rather know I am not giving money to an organization that could not care less about my interests.
Fox is spitting in the faces of the fans. We should spit back. This goes beyond legal rights. This is about spite and revenge. Therefore, this is bullshit. Fox needs to grow some brains and cut the shit, or else they can kiss Wolverine’s opening weekend goodbye!
FOX BOUGHT THE “WATCHMEN” CREATION.
BUT THEIR CREATIVITY TOOK A VACATION.
WARNERS SNAPPED UP THE PIC,
BUT THEY MOVED MUCH TOO QUICK.
NOW THEY’RE FUCKED WITH NO LUBRICATION.
I’d think that if WB can prove that Fox stood to gain the most by sitting on their hands through the entire Watchmen development process and waiting for there to be a finished film for them to grab a piece of, and acted accordingly rather than say something to derail the film, then WB should be in good shape and the onus will be on Fox to try to prove that they only just realized they own the rights.
First, this project was a dog’s dinner of contracts and counter contracts and multiple rights, etc. Just because Fox has scammed a judge into believeing their position is not to say that Warners can’t do the same on appeal.
So now Warner Bros. should threaten to open the next Harry Potter movie on the very same day as any big film Fox tries to schedule. And the next big tentpole and the next. To fuck with the gentlemen’s agreement to not open against another studio (and BTW, as a WGA member, anything that divides the majors is great for u) Ie Warners should ram their tentpoles right up Peter Chernin’s ass. There are ways to make life miserable for Fox.
Open Terminator Salvation 22 days early to ruin the business for Wolverine and hold back Harry Potter until Christmas and schedule it opposite Avatar. These are the two big Fox films. Both Wat=rner films are bigger. The primo theaters will switch the primo theaters to Warners. Then make it clear to Fox you’ll keep doing that. Then see how long Rupert is prepared to play chicken.
Just because somebody is sitting on the rights to a screen property, that doesn’t give somebody else permission to shoot it.
Right there, kiddies. What Santayana posted, right there…?
THE TRUTH.
ok, NOW I’m interested…