Watchmen Release May Be Blocked

Warner Brothers has March 6 release date for Watchmen, Zach Snyder's (300) highly anticipated adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's graphic novel. But a federal judge said this week that he may block that release, leaving us fans wondering when the studios will finally let us see this movie.

Federal judge Gary A. Feess has already ruled that 20th Century Fox has distribution rights to Watchmen, a stake that Warner Brothers has vigorously contested. Warners shot the film and had intended to distribute it itself.

Fox had the original claim to Watchmen, and evidently while it passed on making it and let producer Lawrence Gordon shop it around, eventually landing at Warners, Fox retained some rights to the project, according to the judge.

Feess will rule on the injunction after a hearing scheduled for Jan. 20, according to the New York Times.

The acrimony between the two studios means there's little likelihood they'll agree to bury the hatchet on their own, which might force the release of Watchmen into yet more court proceedings, which could delay the film's release for who knows how long. Warners' attorney said Monday he didn't know if an appeal was coming, but thinks a appellate trial is necessary and a settlement unlikely, according to the AP.

Well, at least we can watch the trailers and video journals:

• Go to video links (updated)
• Go to image gallery
• Watch Trailer