In the world of movie curses, Watchmen might have one of the worst. It appears that its curse is that its movie might never see the light of day.
A judge denied Warner Brothers motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox’s lawsuit over their belief that they hold the exclusive rights to the property. Fox bought the rights in 1991 and they claim they never signed them away.
This might seem like a quick money grab by Fox, but Variety quotes someone closely involved with the lawsuit that states Fox doesn’t want money–it wants to kill the project all together. Why? This is what the source said:
“When you have copyright infringement, there are some damages you never recover”
This whole thing seems really petty, even more so when you consider that Fox didn’t sue Paramount or Universal, two studios that tried to bring Watchmen to the screen before Warners. You’d think that if they were so concerned about copyright infringement, they’d speak up way before Warners got involved.
The judgment does not mean that Fox wins. It simply means that the judge thought Fox’s case was strong enough to stand trial. But the fact that the lawsuit is going to trial means that there is a strong possibility that Watchmen might be delayed–if we see it at all.
