{"id":450,"date":"2009-01-03T09:47:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-03T09:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/01\/more-watchmen-silliness-box-office-trivia\/"},"modified":"2009-01-03T09:47:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-03T09:47:00","slug":"more-watchmen-silliness-box-office-trivia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/01\/more-watchmen-silliness-box-office-trivia.html","title":{"rendered":"More Watchmen silliness, box-office trivia."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The New York Times<\/a><\/i> has a funny item up today on the legal<\/a> battle<\/a> between Fox and Warner over the rights to the upcoming (or is it?) superhero movie Watchmen<\/a><\/i>. In it, the Times<\/i> quotes a few excerpts from the legal documents that, taken out of context, seem to reduce this lawsuit to a juvenile bragging contest:<\/span><\/p>\n

In one exchange, lawyers for Warner Brothers filed paperwork opposing Fox\u2019s attempt to block evidence that Warner says would show that Fox is an \u201cunderperforming\u201d studio or that Warner is \u201cbetter.\u201d This follows earlier assertions by a Fox executive, in a deposition, that his studio is \u201cunique\u201d and \u201cthe very best in the business.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Never mind the fact that this isn\u2019t a custody battle, so it doesn\u2019t really matter which studio could give the movie a better home, so to speak \u2014 either Fox owns the rights or Warner does, period.<\/p>\n

One of the amusing things about this is that Fox, for all its self-styled \u201cuniqueness\u201d and \u201cvery bestness\u201d, really has<\/i> been underperforming lately. When all is said and done, it seems likely that Fox will have released only two movies in 2008<\/a> that grossed over $100 million in North America, namely Dr. Seuss\u2019 Horton Hears a Who!<\/a><\/i> and the surprise hit Marley & Me<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Warner already has five such films. But now we come to another<\/i> amusing irony.<\/p>\n

Three of Warner\u2019s $100 million movies \u2014 Sex and the City<\/a><\/i>, Four Christmases<\/a><\/i> and Journey to the Center of the Earth<\/a><\/i> \u2014 were actually put into production by New Line Cinema, and had to be distributed by Warner after New Line\u2019s distribution arm was shut down<\/a> in February following that studio\u2019s own streak of \u201cunderperforming\u201d films.<\/p>\n

So if it weren\u2019t for those New Line leftovers, Warner would have had only two $100 million movies themselves, namely The Dark Knight<\/a><\/i> \u2014 which, like Watchmen<\/i>, is based on a DC comic-book series \u2014 and Get Smart<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re wondering how the other studios<\/a> are doing:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Paramount will probably end up with seven $100 million movies, four of them produced by DreamWorks: Iron Man<\/a><\/i>, Indiana Jones<\/a> and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull<\/a><\/i>; Kung Fu Panda<\/a><\/i>; Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa<\/a><\/i>; Tropic Thunder<\/a><\/i>; Eagle Eye<\/a><\/i>; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button<\/a><\/i>.\n<\/li>\n
  2. Sony has four: Hancock<\/a><\/i>; Quantum of Solace<\/a><\/i>; Step Brothers<\/i>; You Don\u2019t Mess with the Zohan<\/a><\/i>.\n<\/li>\n
  3. Universal has four: Mamma Mia!<\/a><\/i>; The Incredible Hulk<\/a><\/i>; Wanted<\/a><\/i>; The Mummy:<\/a> Tomb of the Dragon Emperor<\/a><\/i>.\n<\/li>\n
  4. Disney has three: WALL\u2022E<\/a><\/i>; The Chronicles of Narnia:<\/a> Prince Caspian<\/a><\/i>; Bolt<\/a><\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And then there is Summit, which isn\u2019t a major studio like those other outfits, but it, too, hit the big time this year, with Twilight<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

    JAN 4 UPDATE: Based on how well they have performed over the past week, it looks like the Class of 2008 will produce at least two more $100 million movies: Bedtime Stories<\/a><\/i>, which brings Disney\u2019s number up to four; and Yes Man<\/i>, which brings Warner\u2019s number up to six (or three, if we bracket off the New Line films).<\/p>\n

    Fox, meanwhile, remains at two.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The New York Times has a funny item up today on the legal battle between Fox and Warner over the rights to the upcoming (or is it?) superhero movie Watchmen. In it, the Times quotes a few excerpts from the legal documents that, taken out of context, seem to reduce this lawsuit to a juvenile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMore Watchmen silliness, box-office trivia.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The New York Times has a funny item up today on the legal battle between Fox and Warner over the rights to the upcoming (or is it?) superhero movie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/01\/more-watchmen-silliness-box-office-trivia.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More Watchmen silliness, box-office trivia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The New York Times has a funny item up today on the legal battle between Fox and Warner over the rights to the upcoming (or is it?) superhero movie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2009\/01\/more-watchmen-silliness-box-office-trivia.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FilmChat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-03T09:47:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter T. 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