Movies
Fox suing over superhero film 'Watchmen'
Published Tuesday, Feb 12 2008, 11:25 GMT | By Simon Reynolds
20th Century Fox is suing rival studio Warner Bros over the rights to superhero comic book Watchmen.
Fox brought the lawsuit to the studio last Friday saying that it wishes to "restrain (Warner Bros) from taking actions that violate Fox's copyrights and which stand to forever impair Fox's rights to control the distribution and development of this unique work".
Watchmen is currently filming in Canada under the direction of Zack Snyder (300). Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson and Malin Akerman are among the cast.
Fox claims that it acquired all movie rights to the comic series in 1986. However, the studio gave them up in 1991 with the understanding that it held the exclusive option to distribute the first film based on Watchmen.
The film is based on a 12-issue comic series by Alan Moore which revolves around a group of ageing superheroes investigating the death of a former colleague.
Warner Bros plans to release Watchmen on March 6 next year.
Fox brought the lawsuit to the studio last Friday saying that it wishes to "restrain (Warner Bros) from taking actions that violate Fox's copyrights and which stand to forever impair Fox's rights to control the distribution and development of this unique work".
Watchmen is currently filming in Canada under the direction of Zack Snyder (300). Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson and Malin Akerman are among the cast.
Fox claims that it acquired all movie rights to the comic series in 1986. However, the studio gave them up in 1991 with the understanding that it held the exclusive option to distribute the first film based on Watchmen.
The film is based on a 12-issue comic series by Alan Moore which revolves around a group of ageing superheroes investigating the death of a former colleague.
Warner Bros plans to release Watchmen on March 6 next year.
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