Fox is still determined to prevent the March 6 release of Watchmen, and Warner is still determined to defend its right to the property in court — either at the January 20 trial under the current judge, who recently issued a preliminary ruling in Fox’s favour, or by taking its case to the Court of Appeals. So say Variety, the Associated Press and Nikki Finke.
Meanwhile, Lou Lumenick notes that a settlement between Fox and Warner is very unlikely, since Warner is already sharing its revenues on this film with Paramount, which is distributing the film overseas, and Legendary Pictures, which also co-financed the movie. With so many companies already claiming a piece of the pie, there may not be enough left over for Fox.
Lumenick also speculates that Paramount could sue Warner, too, if Warner loses the release-date battle and thereby screws up Paramount’s plans. That may or may not happen in the end, but just the possibility of such a train of unintended consequences brings to mind something that a certain blue-skinned superhero once said: “Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.”
DEC 31 UPDATE: David Poland goes over the legal documents.
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