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BREAKING NEWS! (keep refreshing) The deal is finally done, and Warner Bros’ highly anticipated Watchmen — based on the comic book series/graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons — won’t be held hostage. I’m hearing that in tonight’s settlement, Fox will not be an active distributor of the pic, but will receive up to 8 1/2% gross participation in the pic, and a piece of everything going forward including a sequel or spinoff, and a cash payment upfront including recoupment of its development costs and attorney fees, and god-only-knows what else. Because neither Fox nor Warner Bros would comment on the terms. But Legendary Pictures already owns a chunk of Watchmen. So cutting Fox in now as another partner really plays havoc with Warner Bros’ economics on the movie. Studios hate when that happens.
[FYI, The Hollywood Reporter jumped the gun on this settlement story and got it wrong. Twice in one week for the two trades. Though THR posted at 5:25 PM PT that the deal was done, the fact is that my sources said important issues had yet to be resolved. Only at 7:15 PM was the studios' settlement concluded. Also THR claimed at first that Fox didn't get a piece of Watchmen going forward in a sequel or spinoff. But the trade corrected this at 8:30 PM.]
The settlement will be presented on Friday at 9:30 AM to federal judge Gary Feess who set this in motion in the first place by letting all sides know in December that he intended to side with Fox’s claims against Warner Bros for copyright infringement and distribution rights on Watchmen. This is a case where producer Larry Gordon’s hot property changed hands again and again since the late 1980s from Fox, to Universal, to Paramount, until finally to Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures which together went forward with the $130 million film despite knowing that Fox had claims which led to the lawsuit. The next legal step might have been an injunction against Watchmen‘s March 6th release. Initially, Warner Bros said it would fight Feess’ intention to side with Fox and appeal.
But then, according to my sources, Warner Bros boss Barry Meyer stepped up and stopped that, and his studio finally started talking settlement with Fox last week. So now, Warner Bros can release Watchmen domestically as planned, and Paramount (which also had to sign off on the settlement) play it internationally, and Fox reap the rewards, and fans of the comic book series/graphic novel can rejoice — or find something else about the movie to bitch about…
Need I remind that this isn’t the only controversy in which Watchmen has been embroiled. Though the film’s footage that has been shown has garnered high marks from fans, director Zack Snyder’s admission that he’s changed the ending has rankled many – and he’s also been dismissive of anyone who considers that a big deal. And Watchmen fans appreciated the irony of Warner Bros being hit with a lawsuit over the rights to the movie because it was DC Comics’ screwing of Watchmen writer Alan Moore over both the merchandising rights and a rights-reversion clause to his comics that resulted in his putting a curse on the movie.
UPDATE: Here is the statement by the two studios purporting to show that all is forgiven between them after months and months of nasty back-and-forth battling:
“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.”
All the juicy background is here…
- ‘WATCHMEN’ WATCH UPDATE: Settlement Talks “Productive”!
- Open Letter From ‘Watchmen’ Producer
- VIDEO: Why Is Fox’s Sister Company Hosting New ‘Watchmen’ Sneak Peek?
- WB Vows To Fight Fox Over ‘Watchmen’
- 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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$200M total US gross. little more than folks think.
$400M (maybe a wee bit more) total worldwide gross.
money is money. deals get made. personally least interesting thing is this FOX vs WB war, now that they settled. think of it as another part of the distribution fees.
i hear folks talk about a “flop” ?? tough call but I just dont think so. who would have thought V for Vendetta would make $132M on a $54M budget, not to mention $60M on dvd sales. If the overall plot is not too layered or complex, and not bogged down with meandering sequences, then it should do very very well. Or at least dialogue that is engaging and holds your attention ala V for Vendetta, Blade Runner, 300, old & new versions of War of the Worlds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, old version of the Time Machine, Galaxy Quest(as a scifi comedy example not overdone), Enemy Mine, the Last Star Fighter, It, Them, etc…so many more.
For all of Moore’s criticism of V and even 300 (the GN)as movies they were intellectually and emotionally inviting for audiences to jump in, throughout the world. If Watchmen gets fully understood by the movie going public, as well as entertaining, then there should be a nice tidy payday for everyone.
Moore may not like the movie version of V but it was an entertaining “movie.” He should listen to his own advice about not judging a comic/GN in terms of if it can be done as a movie. He is correct in that observation. But once a movie version of a literary work is produced, in all fairness to the creative team, it should be judged on how well it is as a “movie.” That way any liberties with the text will be compensated by a thougthfully produced movie version, that may be criticized negatively in regards to the book, but enjoyed artistically as a movie experience. And I dont mean by having more “explosions,” although a well-placed explosion is always nice to watch. heh
nuff said.
I’m calling a bomb on this one. I’d be shocked, shocked to see Watchmen top $30 mil opening weekend.
Given its narrow (albeit dedicated) fanbase, it’s release date amidst the winter graveyard, R-rating, and ultra-high concept.
If the tv spots are accurate (flashy as hell, full of over-the-top slow-motion action) the fan base will be pissed, and if, in fact, it’s accurate to the source material, the general audiences will fall off faaaaast.
As for the Fox deal, expect to see this tied up in courts for years. Of course Warner’s took the deal allowing them to release the picture. Creative Accounting isn’t limited to being a studio-artist thing, they can do it to each other.
And maybe (hopefully) there’ll be no sequel, but surely with all the crazy plans for the Pirate sequences, et al, there’s at least territory on the playing field for ancilliary markets, not to mention the regulars (toys, etc).
So yeah. Recapping: Making a prediction that opening weekend won’t be huge, unless the movie’s capital-E Extraordinary the audiences won’t hold up, and as for Fox’s 8 1/2%? Expect to see that wrapped up in court for a looooooooong while.
I can’t help to wonder what happens if Watchmen bombs?
It’s more a matter of when than if, no matter what the rabid fanboys say. Remember them proclaiming the last Hulk was going to be the second coming?
“Best selling graphic novel” is a big fish in a tiny pond. It’s not known outside the comic book geek patrol, it’s not something like Spiderman or Superman that the majority of the audience is familiar with at least in name.
Ah, sweet closure! Fox is happy, I’m happy. In regards to the ending, my guess is that Snyder changed it to be more relevant to the times. Although I think the ending in the film will achieve the same result as in the graphic novel I would have to agree with Zack Snyder that the themes within the story itself and the psychology of the characters far outweigh the ending.
I’m a *huge* fan of the book and Alan Moore. I have no desire to ever see this movie. Some stories should never be moved from whatever medium they were conceived in and this is one. I’m solidly with Moore on this and hoping for nothing but bad things with any business associated with this movie.
Having said that, I don’t think it will matter much anyway. I can’t see this movie opening higher than $17 mil. It doesn’t speak to a basic, primal instinct like 300 did. It’s not stylish and sexy like Sin City was. It looks like a very generic superhero movie with characters no one has ever heard of.
For the person predicting a $35-50m opening weekend, (March 6-8) WATCHMEN should exceed this (regardless of Alan’s curse). There’s no contender opening against it. Win, win for Warner Bros (and great buzz for Paramount’s overseas distribution) and Fox who opens STREET FIGHTER (very weak) a week prior and ALL ABOUT STEVE on March 6th. It has 3 weeks to reach over $100M before Monsters vs Aliens hits theaters on 3/27/09. Not many “great titles” going against it until then.
If this movie tanks opening weekend or doesn’t gross up to $200M by March 27th, I’ll buy drinks for Warner Bog, Tinker Tailor and Downtown (seriously). Remember this blog! If I am incorrect, on Tuesday, March 31st give me a call at 310-204-2004 to pay up.
Armand posted, “a comic book that is only known within the circles of its readers.”
Armand, this is a comic book that in the 20+ years since its release has routinely placed in the top ten best selling graphic novels every year and frequently is number one (and was number one in 2008). When new comic readers ask what is essential reading, Watchmen is the book that everyone invariably agrees on.
Consider some lesser known Alan Moore works adapted to film and released:
Figures from Box Office Mojo
From Hell (2001) Budget 35M Opening 11.0M Domestic 31.6M International 42.9M Total 74.6M
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) Budget 78M Opening 23.0M Domestic 66.4M International 112.8M Total 179.2M
V for Vendetta (2006) Budget 54M Opening 25.6M Domestic 70.5M International 62.0M Total 132.5M
Each of these Alan Moore adaptations has made money despite rocky production decisions, e.g. Heather Graham being totally miscast in From Hell as a 19th Century English Prostitute stalked by Jack the Ripper; League of Extraordianry Gentleman resulted in the film makers and Alan Moore being dragged into a lawsuit, one of the reasons that Moore is so disgruntled with DC Comics, Warner Brothers and adaptations of his work, not to mention that the adaptation of LoEG was both unfaithful to the original work and dreadfully bad.
V for Vendetta is quite good and quite faithful to the work, althogh Alan Moore had issues because he felt it did not accurately reflect the anarchistic politics of the original work, but then again by the time V for Vendetta was released, Moore’s experience of being sued had soured him on the whole film making process.
So, the lesser (in terms of popularity) work of Alan Moore was not very well adapted and still made money. Watchmen, his most popular work which has had the benefit of the original artist Dave Gibbons standing in for Moore and cheer-leading the process and proclaiming how faithful it is, has an incredibly good chance of performing well at the box office.
(Complaints of the changed ending notwithstanding, the original ending was tossed back when Terry Gilliam was attached to the project and Alan Moore signed off on the change at the time, before he was totally embittered by the process. Not surre if this ending will be the same as Sam Hamm’s first Watchmen script, but evryone from Moore to Gibbons on up have said that the comic book ending needed to be changed for the film.)
The weekend after the first Watcmen trailer was relaesed, stores across North America and merchants at conventions were startled to sell out of Watchmen graphic novels, a title that they always stock and sell regularly, but a book that they believed that all comic book fans already owned.
I am reserving judgement on how good the film will be until I actually see it, but I am fairly confident that it will do very well at the box office.
No film is sequel proof. The people who say that are purists (God bless them) and I want them to be right so badly but Hollywood has already perverted the novel. There’s a new ending so we don;t know if the story can continue.
Also, the origin of any of the characters could be a film if the Watchmen takes off.
All that said, this is a cluster fuck of epic proportions. I hope Snyder made a good film. 300 was visually thrilling but only soared on the charisma of a stellar cast.
I hope the best for Watchmen.
But I fear the worst.
WATCHMEN has a big circle of fans. Literally millions have read it. It doesn’t have the general public recognition of Batman or Spider-Man, but it’s not some obscure cult comic either. Certainly, V FOR VENDETTA should be considered the base for the opening weekend.
Considering the lack of big budget spectacle for the upcoming months, it’s probably in a good position. Certainly there won’t be anything as big competing against it until May, due largely to the strike.
Lesson for Hollywood:
1. Contracts mean everything.
2. Due Diligence matters.
Fox is prepping Watchmen 2 with an original script by Scott Rosenberg. It’s set to star Shia LaBeouf, Zach Efron, and the golden retriever from the Air Bud series. John Moore is in talks to direct.
ok quick T-shirt idea NOW:
“WATCH THE WATCHMEN” “…coming to a theatre near u!”
and have an uncle same type version of each of the Watchmen characters pointing at the viewer.
copyright @ Lu-ee
cheers.
What everyone forgets is that, brilliant though the novel was, its ending sucked; it was easily the worst part of the book. The new ending can only improve it imo.
You wanna know what the sequel is gonna be? I’ll tell you what the sequel is gonna be. It’s gonna be the tort pageant when Fox realizes that Warner Bros. never pays them on their 8.5 percent gross deal because of all the rolling breaks. Remember, WB was the studio that had to make three “Batman” sequels because the first one, despite $150 domestic rentals on a $35 million negative cost, still lost $65 million.
Hey, it beats going to the trouble and risk of, you know, actually producing a movie. Just let someone else make a movie you own the rights to, sit on your hands until the movie is ready for release and then raise your hand.
In regard to the movie’s potential box office, the first time I ever heard of this was when Zack Snyder announced he was going to make the movie. I’d never heard of the graphic novel and I don’t know anyone else who knows of it either. I expect this to go to the dogs like The Spirit.
Watchmen cost $120M. It’s R-rated. It has no stars. It’s very long. No one outside of older comic book fans and middlebrow elitists who have read Time Magazine’s list of 100 great novels have any awareness of it. It is dark and complicated. It is the antithesis of a date movie.
WB will be able to buy a big opening weekend, but the book’s fans will be underwhelmed (clunky, dumbed-down, too many changes, etc) and the mainstream auds will be baffled and bored. Maybe it can pull a $35 or so opening w/e, but it’s going to DIE after that. It’ll make X-Men 3 look like a marathon runner. A truly optimistic projection would be 65 domestic/60 overseas, and while that might not technically be a “flop,” it’s still going to be a costly failure and not worth the headache WB has given itself.
Visionary, I want my shaken not stirred.
“Given its narrow (albeit dedicated) fanbase, it’s release date amidst the winter graveyard, R-rating, and ultra-high concept….”
The winter graveyard? I thought this was an industry site, and then you read ignorant shit like this. Zack Snyder’s last two movies (both quite R-rated) opened at the same time of year in 2004 and 2007. Dawn of the Dead opened to nearly $27M, 300 to $70M. It’s almost as if people are allergic to the most basic of research.
No sequels/spinoffs/series? Maybe none that you’d WANT to see, but:
– the Comedian and Manhattan in Vietnam. A little bit RAMBO. A little bit OF MICE AND MEN.
– the heyday of the Minutemen, digging into the whole Capt. Metropolis, Hooded Justice, Sally Jupiter material
– the heyday of the Watchmen themselves, before the anti-vigilante bill, mixing it up with Big Figure and Moloch and the like
– a whole new set of heroes are inspired to action after the events of Watchmen. Brand-new cast means no big talent paydays and we’re not handcuffed by all that arty graphic novel crap this time. Just slap the title on it.
– aliens kill/disperse a galaxy-tripping Manhattan and trace his energy to Earth. They stage an invasion and Nite Owl II must come out of retirement (again) to train a new group of heroes (teens) with the help of an estranged Silk Spectre II (still hot). They finally turn to Ozzie to rebuild Manhattan at the critical moment.
– Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II settle down and have kids (6, 9, and 11), but are kidnapped by a new team of super-villains (all played by Eddie Murphy). The kids discover their parents’ super-gear (and an old Rorshach costume) and swing into action to save ‘em.
No sequels? Ha. Welcome to development…
This movie is going to be incredible. Glad they reached the settlement. As for those speculating on the box office take – all of your numbers are way too low!
Tales of the black freighter dvd is a spionoff I know some people have said this but I guess the people who say this is unspinoffable didnt read that(and won’t read this) plus didnt Snyder claim to change the end, and why is a sequel impossible? Only like 1 character dies in the end(sorry) why would a sequel be impossible?
To Tinker Tailor, who predicted a $35M opening weekend:
$88 million. In 3 days. More than twice what you predicted. (Though let’s keep an eye on it and see how fast it drops.)