An Open Letter from "Watchmen" Producer

[Afrobean]

Originally Posted by bajor27

That's how it's done? Why wouldn't you wait for a no from the company that actually owns the distribution rights before looking for a different distributor? I find that extremely hard to believe.

Considering that Fox seemed to be the only one who knew they had the theoretical distribution rights, I don't think it's too extreme to think that the producers probably figured WB would be able to do whatever they want, being a part of Time Warner along with DC Comics.

And as for my opinion on the matter, if Fox warned WB before and during production than I say they are in the right. That would mean they didn't just wait until the movie was getting a good buzz or fan interest before stepping in and saying give me a slice of the pie.

My guess here is that WB thought Fox was bullshitting. I mean, this is WB with direct ties to DC. Why would they have reason to believe that they don't have legal rights over their own film properties?

And yes, it seems pretty clear that Fox does have legal right here, but morality is not always in line with the law. Not only that, but it's not like WB just set out to make this film that they knew they didn't have rights for; they thought it was within their rights to produce and distribute this. They didn't go "oh well, we know Fox has rights to this, but screw them!" They thought they had gone through all necessary legal hoops for this thing.

Originally Posted by Beast

Doesn't matter. They own distribution rights for the film.

Again, legal right and moral right does not always coincide.

It was what they recieved for the money the initially invested back in the day in regard to developing the picture. It doesn't matter whether they passed on the film or felt the script they were presented was utter crap.

It wasn't JUST that they passed on this iteration. They have been sitting on this property with absolutely no plans of actually developing it.

And Fox informed WB about their claim. WB was the sneaky party in attempting to ignore Fox's claims and go ahead without paying the piper. Now it's biting them on the ass. Hopefully Fox gets what they're owed and more.

WB did not try to "go ahead without paying the piper". I'm sure they figured they had the rights to their own property.

Morally speaking, Fox deserves very little here. They've had the rights all of this time and have actively decided not to develop the property. If Fox had a film adaptation in preproduction, I'd say Fox had a moral claim to this, but it's not fair for them to squat on this thing, only bringing legal action this late in the game. You may say "oh well Fox warned them". This "warning" should have been the time when legal action was brought. Doing it this late in the game was a tactic to extort money out of WB, because WB has this finished film in their hands and they really must meet a deadline on this thing.

The bottom line here is that Fox invested a VERY small amount of money on this thing, then strategically waited until late in the game to try to get WB more willing to pay to get their movie out on time. They want an inordinate return on their investment; they want a big slice of the pie without investing in the property like WB has.

I stand by what I said before. Fox should only be entitled to what the distribution rights were worth before WB began preproduction on this picture. WB shouldn't have to plunk down a large slice of their potential profits here, only pay what the distribution rights were worth back when Fox was sitting on this property with no plans to do anything involving it.