Every fanboy got his panties in a bunch when a trailer for The Watchmen, Alan Moore's 1985 graphic novel about masked vigilantes, previewed before The Dark Knight several weeks ago. Watchmen holds a special place for most comic book lovers; it was one of the first comics, along with Maus, to earn the title of graphic novel (though it was released in sections) due to its meta-commentary on the traditional world of superheroes and crime fighters. Watchmen deals with some pretty dark and complex subject matter, and when details were leaked about the cast of heroes (young and hip, as opposed to the comic where they were older and washed up), and the director (Zack Snyder, who adapted Frank Miller's 300, to mixed reviews), there was some rumblings of trouble in geek and non-geek communities alike. Despite a giant marketing tie-in at this year's Comic-Con, Watchmen seemed doomed to have the impossibly high expectations of a super-hero action piece that also says something, resting on its shoulder. That is, if it even gets released now.


Despite never making a peep while the film was actually in production, 20th Century Fox is now claiming that Warner Bros, the producers of Watchmen, do not own the rights of the film. Seems like Fox bought the rights to Moore's story only a year after the last comic was released, in 1986, and has sat on the project since then. Though various actors and directors have been rumored in conjunction with a film version (though, if Terry Gilliam thinks something is unfilmable, you should probably watch out), the project was ultimately shelved and put into Quitclaim agreement in a joint venture between Fox and distributor giant Larry Gordon. Basically the quitclaim said that Gordon was purchasing the rights to the film (his company, Largo Entertainment, ate up the cost that Fox paid to buy the rights), but that if Fox ever wanted to make a movie of the Watchmen, they could.

Of course, Fox had no intention it seems, of making the Watchmen into a big-screen reality. Rather they bided their time as Warner Bros. bought the rights from Gordon and his affiliates, began production, finished production, and started promoting the film. Essentially guaranteeing that when Fox came along with mutterings of copyright infringement, Warner Bros. would have to pony-up the dough to come to a settlement, or risk losing a project they'd already sunk time and lots of money into. Warner Bros. tried yesterday to get a judge to dismiss the Fox lawsuit as frivolous, but the judge said nay, so it looks like this bitch-war is going full-steam ahead.

Prediction? Warner Bros. will end up just eating it and paying Fox whatever sum they settle on, so the movie can be released. It's unimaginable that WB would actually pull the film with all the hype they've been building up for it, especially since this is the same company that had a similar problem with 2005's Dukes of Hazzard and ended up settling so that gem could hit the theaters.