Oh my... A judge has ruled on the Watchmen case. What! You say? You didn't know there was one? It's complicated. Two studios are at war and a judge which no one thought would make a ruling on it, has. What is more amazing is it is a ruling no one expected, not even the studio that the judge ruled in favor of. Sound familiar in today's society? Here is what you should know. The current ruling now puts the release of the movie in question--not just the release date.
The crux of the matter is 20th Century Fox has won a claim against Universal which now gives Fox a copyright interest in the Watchmen. Why? Because Warner Brothers should have never started filming Watchmen without the rights issue resolved prior. Fox has been attempting to halt the release of Watchmen and now they can. Will they? Money is involved so you bet it may happen.
What if the film is released later? Fanboy's should still care. Fox is well known for tight budgets and keeping films short on running times. Watchmen is complete, so budget is no longer at issue. But Watchmen is currently 2.5 hours long. Watchmen faithful may already be upset by the new ending of Watchmen, but to hack up the film after production is complete may cause a rift in viewership. Early word already is fans may boycott Wolverine in protest of the studio infighting.
Is it possible the most of Watchmen you may ever see are trailers like this one?
As a footnote, the current ruling is a short version. The judge in the case will offer a longer detailed ruling. What this means to us common folk is that this gives the judge some time for perspective which offers clarity to the implications of his ruling. A judge can then craft the more detailed ruling to force both sides to play nice and settle the matter. The judge may even issue a ruling that the film release and date are permitted and the money issue can be resolved after. But now with a ruling in place, both studios are most likely going to resolve the matter between themselves.
