September
3 Judge sets 'Watchmen' trial for Jan. 6

The judge has set a Jan. 6 trial date for Fox's lawsuit against WB claiming distribution rights to "Watchmen," which is due for release March 6.

The trial date is sooner than what either studio requested, with WB pushing for April and Fox for June — both well after the current release date. The judge has indicated the case is not suitable for Fox's request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the release of the film.

NYT's Micheal Cieply fills in the story with arguments from Warners, which says Fox said nothing about its rights while producer Larry Gordon shopped the project around town and that Gordon offered the project to Fox in 2005 only for it to be rejected. Previous reports had focused on Fox's side, in which the studio argues producer Larry Gordon never acquired the distribution rights from the studio.

While it makes a great story to play up the idea that this big-budget film could somehow be scuttled by this dispute, it's hard to imagine a situation where doing so would be in anyone's interest considering the film's already in post-production. It's likely going to come down to working out exactly how much has to be paid to whom. With the film looking at this point like a sure-fire hit, that number could be large.

Almost more interesting than the case itself is the way fans, bloggers and the media have been drawn to the story. Could the dispute's high-profile help settle the case by convincing both sides there's too much money to be made to risk missing the release date? Or could it entrench both sides and make it harder for either side to settle for fear of being made out as the "loser" in all this?

The long history of Watchmen rights and the dispute itself might make for an interesting film of its own. Just think of the fun that could be had with speculative casting for the part of Alan Moore disowning the entire project ...