Fox Wins Battle Over Superhero Film
Michael Cieply - International Herald Tribune
Aug 20, 2008
The dark and damaged superheroes of the Warner Brothers film "Watchmen," set for release next March, have a new problem on their hands: A U.S. judge here has ruled that they may belong to 20th Century Fox.
The judge, Gary Feess of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, denied a request by Warner on Aug. 13 to dismiss Fox's infringement claims.
In the suit, Fox said Warner had infringed on its copyrights and interfered with contracts by filming the movie in spite of earlier agreements under which Fox acquired rights to the graphic novel on which it is based.
Fox lawyers have said they plan to seek an injunction blocking release of the film - one of next year's most anticipated - pending a trial over its rights.
In a statement, Scott Rowe, a Warner spokesman, said the judge's ruling, while allowing the litigation to proceed, did not reflect on the merits of the case. "We respectfully disagree with Fox's position," Rowe's statement said.
Written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Gibbons, "Watchmen" tells the story of superheroes who have fallen into a netherworld of disgrace and personal torment.
Long considered too difficult for a Hollywood film, it became a hot property after Zack Snyder, the director of the Warner Brothers hit "300," took it as his next project, with a budget that published reports have put at about $120 million.
According to the Fox lawsuit, however, Warner Brothers, in acquiring rights through the producer Lawrence Gordon, failed to acquire certain rights already owned by Fox, including the right to distribute any picture made by Gordon's company.
The case, originally filed in February, echoes an earlier court fight that was resolved in 2005 when Warner Brothers agreed to pay the producer Robert Clark at least $17.5 million to settle claims that it had infringed on his rights by making the "The Dukes of Hazzard" film with Johnny Knoxville.
The settlement came after Feess, who presided in that case as well, issued a preliminary injunction that would have blocked the film's release.
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