In their battle over the legal right to distribute WATCHMEN, rival studios 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers are attempting to speed up the decision by opting out of a trial in favor of having a federal judge decide the matter. Warners Brothers has completed a film version, which they hope to release on March 6, but Judge Gary Allen Feess earlier ruled that distribution rights actually belong to Fox, due to a deal in place before Warner aquired the property.
Variety reports:
The studios reached that agreement Monday with U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess, who ruled on Christmas Eve that Fox owns the distribution rights to the dark superhero pic.
Both sides stipulated that Feess would determine at a Jan. 20 hearing whether Fox is entitled to a permanent injunction. The studios also agreed that neither would oppose any request to expedite an appeal.
Hollywood Reporter informs us that Warners would like a decision sooner rather than later:
Warners is asking that the hearing be moved up to as early as Monday because “time is critical,” the studio argues in papers filed this week. “Watchmen” is scheduled for a March 6 bow, and Warners must soon commit to tens of millions of dollars in marketing for a film it isn’t sure it can release.
The injunction fight stems from Feess’ Christmas Eve preliminary ruling that Fox has a right to distribute the Zack Snyder adaptation of the popular graphic novel. Feess found that producer Lawrence Gordon failed to acquire Fox’s entire interest in “Watchmen,” thereby leaving Fox with rights under a 1994 turnaround agreement.
The studios are now battling over the key issue of whether that decision allows Fox to stop the film’s release or whether the parties should proceed to a trial over money damages.
Warners claims that Fox abandoned the property and their interest was only re-ignited after Warners spent $150-million on producing and marketing the film. Warners argues that delaying the release would cause irreparable harm, whereas any harm to Fox from releasing the film could be remedied later through a monetary settlement.