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Zack: Fox may be within their rights, but to continue your analogy, what kind of dirtbag sits there and watches the other guy build the entire house brick by brick, and right when the moving truck pulls up with furniture for the new family, THEN he protests that it's his land? Fox did this to be maximally destructive; screw them accordingly.

We actually had an entertainment lawyer come speak to us in our film class at college, and it was said that Fox actually have a team of lawyers whose sole job it is to look through any material entertainment or otherwise, where they can find grounds to sue. To me, they're just bunch of greedy fuckers, but #2 is right. Warners should have cleared the rights in the first place. In another area, Alan Moore was quoted in saying that he actually put a curse on the film. Hmm, coincidence??

Fox suits are just too damn ruthless. I guess that is one way to cash in on another studio's formula for a potentially good movie, something they can't do themselves---butchering their own movies. Ex: "X-Files", "Babylon AD", & "Live Free or Die Hard"!

Can't Warner invoke laches? Since Fox has basically been bleeding Warner dry with lawsuits AFTER they made the movie?

I'm no law student, but the definition is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laches_(equity) "In most contexts, an essential element of laches is the requirement that the party invoking the doctrine has changed its position as a result of the delay. In other words, the defendant is in a worse position now than at the time the claim should have been brought. For example, the delay in asserting the claim may have caused a great increase in the potential damages to be awarded; or assets that could earlier have been used to satisfy the claim may have been distributed in the meantime; or the property in question may already have been sold; or evidence or testimony may no longer be available to defend against the claim."

I wrote this on a petition I'd started: "Things have their shape in time, not space alone. Some marble blocks have statues within them, embedded in their future. Without me, things would have been different... Am I to blame, then?.. Which of us is responsible? Who makes the world? Perhaps the world is not made. Perhaps nothing is made. Perhaps it simply is, has been, will always be there..." -Dr. Manhattan "We in this country, in this generation, are by destiny, rather than choice, the watchmen on the walls of world freedom." -John F. Kennedy Watchmen is more than just another comic book waiting to be filmed and mined for profit. To many of us, Watchmen changed our lives. It made us want to be writers, directors, comic book authors, artists. It is a book of such gravitas and intelligence that it is more than simple art or great storytelling. It is one of a kind and there will never be another like it. The care and love is in every panel, every page, every instance of dialogue and at every available opportunity it asks us to go farther. It is a book you never stop thinking about and one whose resonance only increases with each passing year. There's a reason this film wasn't made until now. It asks, nay screams, for a guiding hand in assuring it is preserved, respected, and most of all, treated with a sense of versimilitude. Zack Snyder is that hand, and this film is his as much as the graphic novel is Alan Moore & Dave Gibbon's. Hollywood has fallen dramatically out of step with it's audience and in giving us what they think we want or what maximizes profit, they've sacrificed quality. By thinking that no one wants to sit through a three hour comic book film, they've grossly underestimated us. Isn't The Dark Knight now one of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful films of all time? It's not that we don't want to sit through a three hour film; it's that we want it to be worth those three hours. Please don't give us another film of misdirected passion. 20th Century Fox has had every available opportunity to make this film, and have chosen to remain completely quiet through pre-production, filming, and post-production. It wasn't until that first trailer was released and they saw the potential, ambition, pure love, and absolute dedication to detail that Snyder & his production team approached this film with. It's in every frame of every bit of footage they've released. There are images and layers of details in this film no one will ever fully comprehend, no matter how much we freeze frame. It is as close as anyone will get to bringing that world to life. And now, that world is in danger. We don't want to see another generic superhero flick. For once, we want to be heard. This is our stand. Who watches the Watchmen? We do.

I would be on board to boycott if it weren't for the Wolverine movie coming out. Then again, I heard they effed with that too, so if they effed it up enough to the point where it disappoints, I will forever hate Fox, and boycott them in any way I can. I think that's the only way they can realize they need to stop messing with their own (and even others') movies. Just allow some creative license. Let directors make the movie they want. Dunno how else they would understand to stop butting in so excessively other than if they start to lose a lot of money. And only the general public will be able to effect that.

so did fox just wait till WB finished the movie or did they just not know? I mean if they knew the movie was being made and had rights to it and said nothing wouldn't that work against them somehow in the court room?

fuck fox! i'm boycotting everything fox. wolverine, avatar, the super bowl, and the MLB postseason. i hate them even more for forcing me to boycott wolverine (one of my fav comic characters and he's an x-man) and avatar (james cameron). fox are sleazy fcuks who'll never get my respect

Sorry Andrew (#19) but I think you need to take some pills... as much as I hate the way FOX runs their film branch, I can't believe you would boycott something you WANT to see like Avatar or Wolverine. You are choosing to boycott them not the other way around. I think guys like Gavin Hood and James Cameron deserve to have their movies seen even if it comes down to money for FOX, it's a creative achievement for them and the same goes with Snyder's Watchmen.

BahHumbug - From the way they treat their movies, or the way they dump television shows like it's nothing, they simply DON'T CARE about anything but money. Wolverine is most likely going to suck because it isn't the movie Gavin Hood wanted to make. That news came a few weeks or so after the director of Babylon AD ripped Fox a new one in the press. James Cameron, seriously; what can Fox say to James Cameron? Most directors working for Fox aren't going to get final cut, but Cameron can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants at this point.

Fox is indeed a horrible company. They knew from day one that Warner Bros were going to make this film. They sat idly by and waited for the right moment. Money is all that they care about. They could care less about the quality of the film because all they see is numbers. I don't care when Watchmen comes out, as long as Fox doesn't have their filthy little hands fucking with one of the greatest stories ever written. Justice is coming to all of us, no matter what we do.

Blame Warner Bros. legal team for not doing their due diligence before the film was produced. Alex is making it personal. Fox is bad, blah, blah, blah. Its business. That's all it is.

If Watchmen doesn't come out, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will probably get a MAHOOSIVE, ginormous Box Office turnout. It got pushed way back and people have been anticipating a big tentpole blockbuster ALL.YEAR. LONG. It'll be interesting to see the outcome of this.

These things don't usually "just happen". WB probably did the diligence and determined on their own that Fox didn't have the rights to it, and went ahead. If you read up on the whole thing, it's predicated on a few sketchy events - that's why it will probably need to go to a judge to decide. It's not a clearcut case of "oh, Fox owned it and WB made it anyway". It's more like "Fox may or may not have rights to it, and WB may or may not have known that at the time they produced the film". Either way, Fox is in the wrong because they should have put an immediate stop to this BEFORE it was finished if they had an issue with it. Basically, they want to swoop in at the last minute and take the film away from it's creators (and quite possibly ruin it completely with unnecessary edits, as Fox often does) so that they can get the money and credit for someone else's hard work. Unforgivable. Hopefully, WB will put the integrity of the film above this petty squabble, pay Fox to shut the hell up, and release the film as soon as humanly possible before people just stop caring.

Fuck Fox ! WB deserves it all...

This is unacceptable. This is Greed and Jealousy and petty vindictiveness. I will be boycotting everything Fox produces and distributes until they stop trying to profit from the hard work and talents of others without putting in some effort of their own. I call on the open minded Movie lovers amongst you to join me. Yes, we might have to miss Wolverine and Avatar, but there is no gain without pain. Back off Fox, this is our movie and we will not allow you to fuck with us. p.s. #13 Excellently put Feulbot.

fuck FOX.

I don't see why anyone is taking either side right now. Yes, FOX is fucked up for letting production go this far before saying something, and yes, the legal team at WB should have been more diligent checking the legal rights before this thing went into production. Everybody wants to point fingers and blame one side or the other, but the fact of the matter is that both parties are responsible for this legal battle. I'm not saying I'm not upset by FOX's actions, because I, like many, enjoyed reading Watchmen and watching many of WB's movies. But WB did fuck up, and now they are going to have to fight to get what they've worked for on this film. I will say this, though. I like what #6 Dar-el said about all the money that must have gone into making this and what a hit WB will take if they cannot distribute this and lose their investment. This is the way capitalist enterprise works. It's about competition. And if one company can't please its customers with its product, it will do everything within its power to destroy the opposition and obtain selling power. Yet another example of how the right-wing operates. It does it at every level of this society and it's getting away with it. That is until enough people get pissed off about it and rise against.

1. Fox buys rights to Watchmen 2. Fox does nothing with Watchmen for 20 years 3. Warner Brothers announces they are making the Watchmen movie 4. A year goes buy and the Watchmen movie is made 5. Fox files a claim saying that Watchmen is Fox's property 6. _________ Fox should have said something when WB announced they were going to make it, but didn't. Given, they weren't obligated to, but it would have made them less of a jerk. WB should have taken care of the copyright issues before any of this even started. I really want to see this movie as is, no adjustments from Fox. With that said, Fix bought the rights to this movie 20 years ago, so it was very bold of a different company to produce this film. Warner Brothers took a shot and got caught, thats it. Really the whole situation was handled poorly.