Three days ago, Variety said Warner Bros. were “scrambling” and “in a tizzy” to settle the lawsuit with 20th Century Fox over the “Watchmen” film now that an L.A. Federal judge said he intended to grant Fox’s copyright interest claim in the film.
But apparently Warners strategy has changed (or Variety just assumed like many of us, that a settlement was their only option. Evidently a status conference with attorneys for the two sides was held today with the aforementioned U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess, but no settlement was reached.
And it could get uglier than it has. According to the AP, the attorneys for Fox will continue to seek an order delaying the release of the Zack Snyder-directed film.
With WB’s back seemingly against the wall with Feess’ original assessment that Warner Bros. had infringed Fox’s copyright by developing the film due, March 6, you’d think they’d want to end this quick, but an attorney for the studio at this status conference said he felt a settlement was “unlikely” and that a ” trial is necessary”
January 20 is the trial date, however Variety says the Judge said he would issue a fuller ruling prior to the trial to resolve the remaining issues.
Producer Larry Gordon and his non-due diligence have been at the epic center of this case (or at least for those in the know), but in last weeks original ruling the judge admonished Gordon over invoking attorney-client privilege rather than testifying. “The court will not, during the remainder of this case, receive any evidence from Gordon that attempts to contradict any aspect of this court’s ruling on the copyright issues under discussion,” Feess wrote.
So what is it now? It’s full on war. Variety called today’s results, “combative” to say the least and apparently Warners thinks they’re still going to win the case. Really?
No joke, check this announcement/statement.
“We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the court’s ruling and are exploring all of our appellate options,” the studio said. “We continue to believe that Fox’s claims have no merit and that we will ultimately prevail, whether at trial or in the Court of Appeals. We have no plans to move the release date of the film.”
Fox said tersely in retaliation, “We are gratified by the recognition of our rights in the judge’s order, which speaks for itself.” Man, it’s a full on showdown and we thought this one would whimper away quietly! WB has some cojones! Nice, fireworks are fun when you’re not invested or caught in the crossfire. Should be interesting.