Watchmen update
Fans anxious to know whether Watchmen will be released in March as scheduled will have to wait a few weeks. The New York Times is reporting that the judge in the Watchmen case has decided to refrain from ruling on the injunction sought by Fox until after a hearing set for January 20, 2009.
For anyone who wants more details on the judge's 12/24 ruling, I've uploaded a set of documents that includes not just the Christmas Eve order, but both parties' motions for summary judgment as well as fascinating material filed by Fox just yesterday.
These three filings in particular provide detailed allegations as to how Warner Brothers got into this mess. In a nutshell, Fox claims that it has evidence that Warner Brothers initially relied on an inaccurate chain of title provided by Paramount. Once Warner Brothers was aware of Fox's documented claims, it nonetheless decided to proceed in a deliberate "business calculation" that it would be more profitable to deal with a court case than clear the rights before making Watchmen.
Fox's claim that Warner Bros. has an established "studio practice" of bad faith in clearing title is central to its argument that the court should enjoin Warner Bros. from releasing the film.
Besides these documents, I also recommend checking out Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily and Rodney Perkins' Film Esq., which provide detailed analysis of the latest developments.
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Here's my solution: Release the movie as scheduled, but Alan Moore gets to decide what to do with the profits.
And yes, I'm aware he would likely either give them to his cat (after giving Dave Gibbons a healthy cut) or perhaps have them gathered as cash money and burned as part of a Magickal working.