The huge legal battle between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. will reach its climax on December 15th, according to amlawdaily. The two sides filed their motions last week, and the suit will come to a head during a hearing that could derail the release of Zack Snyder’s Watchmen movie.
The two sides take very different strategies in their motions filed this week. Warners comes out firing, saying Fox, even if it did once own a right of first refusal, gave it up by not exercising it for more than a decade while three different studios batted around possible “Watchmen” projects. They characterize Fox’s suit as a last-minute attempt to attach itself to a film that looks like it will be a hit. But later in their motion, the studio says it’s willing to accept a partial summary judgment ruling. What that means is unclear; it could mean that Fox will end up with a percentage of distribution rights or that Warners will pay Fox an unknown amount to secure full rights to the movie.
Fox, on the other hand, is going for a home run. They ask for nothing less than the sole right to produce “Watchmen” and distribute it in the U.S. and abroad.
The eyes of comic book geeks around the world will be on Judge Gary Feess’s courtroom in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California next month.
