Judge Rules In Fox’s Favor in “Watchmen” Case

The judge presiding over 20th Century Fox’s lawsuit against Warner Bros. claiming it still holds the rights to distribute the super-hero epic Watchmen has issued a ruling stating that “Fox should prevail on crucial issues.” This is disturbing because Watchmen is a big-budget picture already pretty well in the can, and Fox is attempting to halt its release, which could turn this highly anticipated film into a giant clusterfudge. Warner Bros. is now trying to negotiate a ‘fair price’ for these rights, as Fox is demanding zillions, and there’s a possibility that Judge Feess would rule that they only get what was agreed to in Fox’s original contract with producer Larry Gordon. Gordon, of course, is the man who screwed things up by forgetting the terms of his deal with Fox, and who is someone what WB likely wants to kick in the crotch right about now. How can a giant corporation kick a man in the crotch, you might ask? Set aside a week, schedule different departments and branches on different days, and have every WB employee line up and one-by-one put a boot in Larry Gordon’s junk.

While they are arranging that, we’ll have to cross our fingers and hope this can be settled for a cash payout, and no one gives Fox the rights to mess with a movie in which WB has a much greater stake and seems to actually be treating respectfully. It better just be a money thing. Anything more vindictive will make the fans weep openly.