After a judge ruled that Fox did, in fact, have some rights to Warners’ Watchmen movie, people have wondered if this means we won’t see the movie in March. The answer is: Probably not.
A spokesman for Fox announced today that the studio is going to be seeking an order to delay release of Zack Snyder’s three hour superhero epic. In addition, an attorney for Warner Bros. has said that he doesn’t think that a settlement is likely, and that the trial – due to start on January 20th, despite Judge Gary Feess urging both sides to negotiate outside of the courtroom – is “necessary.”
Considering that most industry watchers had considered January’s trial a worst case scenario for Warners, as it would most likely delay the movie from its March 6th release date even in the increasingly unlikely case that they would win, this is a surprising move from the studio, and either a bold bluff or crazy piece of lawyerly bravado. Nonetheless, it does mean that the year looks set to get off to a good start for fans of juicy industry gossip.
Fox will fight for ‘Watchmen’ delay [Hollywood Reporter]
