Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over the upcoming and highly-anticipated film adaptation of the graphic novel “Watchmen,” according to The Hollywood reporter, with the studios reaching an agreement and moving that the case be dismissed.
Though the terms of the agreement are not disclosed to the public, the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment from Warner and a percentage of the film’s box office grosses as well. Furthermore, Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film or co-own the “Watchmen” property, but rather will share in revenue derived from it.
The two studios released a statement saying “Warner Bros. acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography, […] Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith defending against those claims.”
Fox initially sued Warner Bros in February of 2008, claiming copyright infringement based on agreements the studio had with producer Larry Gordon for the rights to a big-screen adaptation of the legendary DC/Vertigo graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Judge Feess ruled on December 24th that Gordon in fact did not secure proper rights to “Watchmen” from Fox before the project got moved to Warner Bros.
“Watchmen” will be hitting theaters March 6th, 2009.
Stay tuned to Shockya.com for more Watchmen news.
By Costa Koutsoutis, (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)