The Watchmen trailers, posters and webisodes keep rolling out of Warner Bros., but none of that means you're any closer to seeing the movie in theaters next spring.
As the legal war between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. creeps along, as recapped by the Los Angeles Times, it's becoming clear that this dispute is now about much more than just development copyright issues or theatrical and home video revenues. The two studios are fighting for ownership of a franchise built on the back of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' graphic novel.
For fans eager to see Watchmen in all its big-screen glory, this is all painfully bad news on top of just plain old average bad news.
Before the scope of Fox's suit became clear, it looked as though the studio wanted a cut of Warner Bros.' money based on copyright minutiae.
If Fox is instead looking to seize a share of control over everything Watchmen -- announcing a willingness to fight over every prequel, sequel, spinoff or piece of merchandising -- this legal battle just stepped up from single-movie skirmish to global thermonuclear pain in the backside.
Image courtesy Warner Bros. (Unless you ask Fox.)
See also:
