The war over Watchmen between Fox and Warner Bros. is over. The settlement, finalized late Thursday, has Warner Bros. forking over a chunk of change (including old development costs, plus interest) and a portion of the film’s theatrical revenues. The L.A. Times reports the cash figure at $1.5 million (though Variety says it could be as much as $10 million), while multiple reports say Warner Bros. might be ceding as much as 8.5 percent of the box office receipts. Fox will also get a piece of future sequels or spin-offs (which are unlikely), but it does not appear that the company will be sharing in revenues generated from DVD sales and licensed merchandise.
And so ends months of enormous free publicity for Watchmen, which not so long ago was deemed a marketing-challenged gamble, being that it’s an R-rated, 2 hour-plus superhero epic based on characters nobody knows. But director Zack Snyder’s dark opus now enjoys intense Must See buzz thanks to the mainstream media’s intense interest in Fox’s dogged pursuit of justice, not to mention Warner Bros.’ decision not resolve the matter until six weeks prior to the movie’s March 6 release, just as billboards and TV ads begin flooding the national mediasphere. Well played, folks. Well played.
Perhaps the most curious aspect of the peace pact was the joint
statement issued by both studios: “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.” This
statement is no doubt intended for fanboys and bloggers who’ve been
hating hard on both companies throughout this mess. When the Watchmen legal
fight reached the court of public opinion, the noisy-pissy geek pop
lobby — already embittered toward Fox for various crimes against
comicbookdom (See: Fantastic Four; Daredevil) and for showing little to zero prior interest in making a Watchmen
movie itself — wrongly charged the studio of not pressing its claims
sooner in order to get maximum leverage on Warner Bros. Clearly, Fox is
hoping that these well-negotiated words attributed to Warner Bros. will
publicly exonerate the company for merely doing the right thing.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. — which got spanked on Christmas Eve by a
judge who said Fox "at the very least" had distribution rights to Watchmen
– got Fox to say…something. That deep down, they’re actually good
eggs, I guess, even though they made a movie they had no right to make.
Whatever. The movie’s coming out. End of story.
Footnote: This entire case hinged on a contract that Fox had with Watchmen
producer Larry Gordon — a contract which Gordon told the court he
couldn’t properly recollect. According to the legal papers filed by
Fox, Gordon always had the opportunity to buy out Fox’s stake in Watchmen
at anytime. It even spelled out the terms: a cash buy out of Fox’s
previously accrued costs and a smaller percentage of revenues than the
one Warner Bros. now has to pay. If only Gordon had remembered to honor
his obligation, he could have saved Warner Bros. some money here. Oh,
well. Those Warner Bros. are good egg people — I’m sure they’ll just
forgive and forget. Right?
More Watchmen from EW:
Judge In ‘Watchmen’ Case Rules For Fox; Fans Brace For Fallout
Watchmen trial set for Jan. 20
Watchmen vs. Star Trek: Pick best trailer
Watchmen: Zack Snyder hosts a sneak peek
Watchmen worth the fuss: Kevin Smith
Flashback! Watchmen war: Fanboys furious with Fox
Watchmen: Exclusive First Look!
Watchmen: A Chat with Director Zack Snyder (July 2008)
Watchmen Creator Alan Moore: The EW Q&A (July 2008)
Watchmen: A Primer for Newcomers
Perhaps the most curious aspect of the peace pact was the jointstatement issued by both studios: “Warner Bros. acknowledges that Foxacted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted priorto the start of principal photography. Fox acknowledges that WarnerBros. acted in good faith in defending against those claims.” Thisstatement is no doubt intended for fanboys and bloggers who’ve beenhating hard on both companies throughout this mess. When the Watchmen legalfight reached the court of public opinion, the noisy-pissy geek poplobby — already embittered toward Fox for various crimes againstcomicbookdom (See: Fantastic Four; Daredevil) and for showing little to zero prior interest in making a Watchmenmovie itself — wrongly charged the studio of not pressing its claimssooner in order to get maximum leverage on Warner Bros. Clearly, Fox ishoping that these well-negotiated words attributed to Warner Bros. willpublicly exonerate the company for merely doing the right thing.Meanwhile, Warner Bros. — which got spanked on Christmas Eve by ajudge who said Fox "at the very least" had distribution rights to Watchmen– got Fox to say…something. That deep down, they’re actually goodeggs, I guess, even though they made a movie they had no right to make.
Whatever. The movie’s coming out. End of story.
Footnote: This entire case hinged on a contract that Fox had with Watchmenproducer Larry Gordon — a contract which Gordon told the court hecouldn’t properly recollect. According to the legal papers filed byFox, Gordon always had the opportunity to buy out Fox’s stake in Watchmenat anytime. It even spelled out the terms: a cash buy out of Fox’spreviously accrued costs and a smaller percentage of revenues than theone Warner Bros. now has to pay. If only Gordon had remembered to honorhis obligation, he could have saved Warner Bros. some money here. Oh,well. Those Warner Bros. are good egg people — I’m sure they’ll justforgive and forget. Right?
More Watchmen from EW:
Judge In ‘Watchmen’ Case Rules For Fox; Fans Brace For Fallout
Watchmen trial set for Jan. 20
Watchmen vs. Star Trek: Pick best trailer
Watchmen: Zack Snyder hosts a sneak peek
Watchmen worth the fuss: Kevin Smith
Flashback! Watchmen war: Fanboys furious with Fox
Watchmen: Exclusive First Look!
Watchmen: A Chat with Director Zack Snyder (July 2008)
Watchmen Creator Alan Moore: The EW Q&A (July 2008)
Watchmen: A Primer for Newcomers
This confirms that Warner Bros. was just as much at fault as Fox…if not more. All these immature fanboys kept yelling “I hate 20th Century Fox! I’m boycotting Wolverine!” Now it’s obvious that Warner Bros. intentionally dragged this on to get the free publicity they knew this settlement would generate. I’m not a die-hard Watchmen fan or anything, I just think it’s funny now to see the bottom line of what Fox is actually getting out of this, and realize they weren’t the villians Warner Bros. and fanboys painted them to be.
I don’t think that the issue ever was leveled at the actual workings of Fox or Warner Bros. We just wanted to see a movie made from one of the finest novels of the 20th century. Perhaps you should read more and vent less.
It confirms nothing. A negotiated settlement is completely at the agreement of the parties, it says nothing about who was “really right” under the law and that statement could be agreed to say anything. Just because they both agreed to SAY they were acting in good faith doesn’t mean they were or that the other party thinks they were. The only thing any of this “confirms” is that neither party felt good enough about their position to litigate to the bitter end.
I think Fox should pay Warners for keeping them from making another crappy comic movie.
I am just glad it’s over. now we’ll be able to see one of the greatest graphic novels on screen!! yay!!
A bit spoilery there.
I am just hoping the movie is as good as the drama that surrounded it. Now I’m afraid it’s just going to be this piece of crap. It’s all in Zacky’s hands now. DON’T DISSAPOINT US SNYDER!
“superhero epic based on characters nobody knows”
Hardly given the immense popularity of the Graphic Novel (which was listed as one of Time’s “100 Greatest Novels”).
Well, it confirms it in my mind. Something doesn’t have to be spelled out to read between the lines. All I was saying is that I think the fanboys who were claiming to boycott any Fox movies were looking at this from only one side of the story. I just hate the immature hissy fits that some people have about this lawsuit. Both parties acted foolishly in this situation, but the diehard Watchmen fans were convinced it was all the fault of 20th Century Fox. I just think this proves that wasn’t the case. Just my opinion.
Look at it this way too: WB is giving up basically 10% of box office gross to Fox. The coverage from this case will earn them back at least DOUBLE that number. So Warner Bros. was playing the game just as dirty as Fox.
Characters no one knows? Watchmen is a cult legend and one of the greatest pieces of popular fiction of all time. It has PLENTY of fans
All l can say is that DVD sales for this movie are going to be HUGE…
Not a Watchman fanboy. Never read the GN. But, I was planning to see it long before the lawsuit. And, I do question the author’s uninformed comments about the impact the whole Watchmen has had on the industry. And as one poster mentions, WM is the only GN that reached Time’s top 100. The previews themselves were awesome enough to convince me I have to see the film. My thoughts last July was this would be a Top 5 film for 2009.
Will the noise surrounding the lawsuit help? Absolutely. But, this film wwas already destined to be a Top 5 movie.
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