No more Heroes Anymore!!!!

[Buleste]

http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/
Nuff Said!!!!

[Teho]

Yeah, I've been following the production of this movie for a while now. With worry, because this is one of those adaptions that will be so easy to mess up, and so hard to get right. From the trailer and what I've read of the director's own online journal it does seem this one is going to be done right. He has the proper attention to all the minute details of the graphic novel that makes it so great, and almost no scene from the novel will be left out. Well, they will be from the three-hour theatrical version, but the extended edition is looking to be over four hours long. Closer to four and a half he says.

I am very very much looking forward to this movie. Those of you who haven't read this graphic novel before (philistines! ) really ought to do so. It's available at amazon uk for a little over £10 which is a steal. Or you could get the slightly more expensive Absolute edition...

[Buleste]

I just noticed that Alan Moore's name isn't on the poster only Dave Gobbons!!! If Alan Moore hasn't put his name to it then we may well have to worry.

[Teho]

No, that is an old story. Alan Moore got increasingly frustrated with the poor adaptions of his stories, and in the end he started to demand that the movie production companies not put his name on them, as he wanted to disassociate himself from them all. It was League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that was the last straw I think, or that was the first that didn't have his name on it. You won't find his name on the V For Vendetta and From Hell adaptions either.

Dave Gibbons the artist was as much a part of Watchmen as Alan Moore was. Having him aboard the production team will definitely help. Also the fact that the producer has been a fan of the novel since it came out, and claims to know its intricacies inside and out also has to count for something. This don't seem to be another cheap adaption of a great license, this appears to be as faithful a labour of love as Sin City was. I really have high hopes for this one.

[Buleste]

Will watchmen ever be released???

"Watchmen" could find itself in court before it arrives at the multiplex.

Warner Bros. is scheduled to release Zack Snyder's big-screen adaptation of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons comics series on March 6, but a federal judge in Los Angeles complicated that plan Wednesday when he refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by 20th Century Fox against Warners over rights to the property.

Judge Gary Allen Fees ruled that Fox has established enough evidence to support its claims that it holds the distribution rights to the film version of the 1980s graphic novel about damaged superheroes.

Asserting what it calls its "long-standing motion picture rights" to "Watchmen," Fox said Monday that it will ask the court to "enjoin the release of the Warner Brothers film and any related 'Watchmen' media that violate our copyright interests in that property."

Warners has high hopes for "Watchmen," a potential franchise film that has a reported $120 million budget. The studio does not want to mess with success -- it released Snyder's previous big-screen effort, "300," in March 2006, and that action movie went on to gross more than $450 million worldwide.

Warners counters that Fox has no rights to the project.

"The court's ruling simply means that the parties will engage in discovery and proceed with the litigation," it said. "The judge did not opine at all on the merits, other than to conclude that Fox satisfied the pleading requirements."

Fox has sued Warners for copyright infringement and interference with its contract rights under a 1991 agreement between Fox and Largo Entertainment producer Larry Gordon.

Under that deal, Fox "quit claimed" its rights in "Watchmen" to Largo, with the understanding that if the production company proceeded with a big-screen version of the comic, then the movie would be distributed by Fox.

In 1994, Gordon negotiated with Fox "a turnaround notice" that established a buyout formula for the studio if he elected to acquire Fox's rights. But according to Fox, Gordon failed to follow the 1994 agreement.

In 2006, Warners negotiated a quit-claim contract with Gordon, under which it claims to have acquired the rights to "Watchmen."

Fox contends that it has retained its rights to the project because Gordon failed to buy out the studio's rights. It further claims that Warners turned a blind eye to Fox's rights. Warners, however, says under the 1994 agreement, Fox gave away all of its rights, including those to distribute.

Judge Fees disagreed, finding that Warners' motion to dismiss ignored several facts, including that the turnaround notice separately dealt with "Watchmen" and that there is nothing in the court record that shows Gordon has an interest in the project.

[Teho]

Of course something had to happen. When I for once am really excited about an upcoming movie, something just has to get in the way. Hopefully they'll sort this out fairly quickly.

In the meantime, a hi-def version of that trailer is available on most public trackers. Here it is on Isohunt.