Will 'Watchmen' be watched in 2009? Ever?
Posted Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 12:46 PM Central
by John Couture
If you are a casual movie watcher that only finds out about movies from the trailers played in theaters before other movies that you are watching, then this news probably won't mean much to you. Of course, if you were that guy or girl, what are you doing perusing this site devoted to movies?
One of the most highly anticipated movies of 2009 (especially in that key comic book geek demo) is Watchmen and it's slated for a March 6 release, but it's also the subject of an ongoing copyright infringement fight between two of Hollywood's heaviest of heavy hitters.
I'm no legal expert and the medication I'm taking isn't helping matters, but basically, Fox held the rights for a big screen adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel. The rights allegedly traded hands a few times before Warner Bros. stepped in and finally greenlit the $120 million movie. Now that the film is complete and some footage was shown at last year's Comic Con, Fox is reasserting its rights claiming that they were never paid for their buy-out and thus still own the rights to the property.
A judge in Los Angeles this week sided with Fox and now a January 20 preliminary court date has been set which if this case isn't settled before then, would almost certainly push back the intended March 6, 2009 release. And we all know how slow the judicial process can move at times, so it's entirely possible that Watchmen could be shelved for all of 2009 or longer depending on the course of the legal process and all the requisite appeals.
It is possible that one of 2009's most anticipated movie might never see the light of day. Ever.
The "shelving" of films isn't unheard of in Hollywood, but usually it's due to other factors such as going over budget or being just really, really bad. Warner Bros. shelved The Adventures of Pluto Nash for more than two years before becoming one of the most expensive box office bombs on record.
In fact, the comic book genre is quite familiar with films being shelved. Roger Corman made an adaptation of Fantastic 4 in 1994, but to this day it has yet to be released theatrically or for home entertainment purposes.
But, Watchmen would be the highest budgeted movie with the best chance for real box office success ever shelved. And what's all at stake?
Well, 2008 saw the already lucrative comic book genre explode at the box office with megahits Dark Knight and Iron Man bringing in bags of cash.
With such a huge potential windfall at stake, it doesn't look like there will be a resolution anytime soon. So, Watchmen it might be time to temper those expectations because it could be a long, long time before it sees the light of day.
What do you think about the potential delay or lawsuits? Are you looking forward to seeing this on the big screen?