Watchmen Watch

Here's the edge-of-seat thriller in Hollywood tonight:

In a surprise ruling, a federal judge in Los Angeles said he intended to grant 20th Century Fox’s claim that it owns a copyright interest in the “Watchmen,” a movie shot by Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures and set for release in March...

...“Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the ‘Watchmen’ motion picture,” the ruling said.

If you want to piss off a million militant fanboys, just try screwing with the release of this long-awaited adaptation of Alan Moore's epochal graphic novel, illustrated by Dave Gibbons. Messing up the story could be worse, and there's talk of director Zack "300" Snyder having to cut his film down to a potentially damaging running time (and saving the consolation version for DVD). But what's really interesting here is who's going to get what out of this final distribution arrangement, and if it'll be solved in time to hit the March 2009 release date.

For those who may not have seen the most recent trailer, YouTube doesn't do it justice like the infinitely superior Apple's Quicktime Trailer version, but here goes:




So will Warner Bros get their fair share for taking the risk of making the movie? Will Fox get what the judge says is their due?

Will the picture turn out to be worth it?