Tagged: Warner Bros

Fox sues to block Watchmen movie from opening

Fox sues to block Watchmen movie from opening

Uh-oh. Nikki Finke broke the news last night that a federal judge has denied a Warner Bros. motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox’s legal battle over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on Watchmen. Fox was seeking to enjoin Warner Bros from going forward with the project, and U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess on Friday refused to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Fox on February 12th, 2008.

Fox had the rights to Watchmen back in the late 80’s– I have a copy of the first draft of the script by Sam Hamm (writer of the Tim Burton Batman) dated September 9, 1988. Here’s Finke’s chronology of what’s happened since:

1986-90: Fox acquires motion picture rights in The Watchmen.
1990: Fox enters into a domestic distribution agreement with Largo Entertainment, a joint venture of JVC Entertainment Inc., Golar (Larry Gordon), and BOH, Inc. The “Largo Agreement” established Fox’s domestic distribution rights, through a license from Largo, in “subject pictures” as defined in the agreement.
June 1991: Fox enters into a “Quitclaim Agreement” with Largo International, through which Fox “quitclaims to Purchaser all of Fox’s right, title and interest in and to the Motion Picture project presently entitled Watchmen, which included specifically described literary materials. Notably, the agreement provides that, “if Purchaser elects to proceed to production, the Picture shall be produced by Purchaser and shall be distributed by Fox as a Subject Picture pursuant to the terms of the Largo Agreement …” In consideration for the rights to Watchmen, Fox was to be reimbursed for its development costs ($435,600) plus interest plus a profit participation in the worldwide net proceeds of any Watchmen picture.
Nov. 1991: The Largo Agreement was amended; Watchmen was listed as a project quitclaimed to Largo.
Nov. 1993: Larry Gordon, through Golar, withdraws from the Largo Entertainment joint venture; Largo conveys any rights it has in Watchmen to Gordon/Golar. Based on the 1991 quitclaim, the Court may infer that Gordon now stood in the shoes of Largo with respect to Watchmen and held whatever rights it acquired through the 1991 Quitclaim, which left Fox with the distribution rights it retained through that agreement.
1994: Fox negotiated a “Settlement and Release” agreement with Gordon which contemplated that the Watchmen project would be put in “perpetual turnaround” to Lawrence Gordon Productions, Inc. The “turnaround notice” gave Lawrence Gordon Productions “the perpetual right . . . to acquire all of the right, title and interest of Fox [Watchmen] pursuant to the terms and conditions herein provided.” The turnaround notice then described the formula for determining the buy-out price in the event that Gordon elected to acquire Fox’s interest. Thus, the document suggests that Gordon acquired an option to acquire Fox’s interest in Watchmen for a price. In fact, the notice obligated Gordon to pay the buy-out price on the commencement of any production of a Watchmen film. The notice also provided that the agreement was personal to Gordon and that, “prior to payment of the Buy-Out Price,” he could not assign rights or authorize any person to take any action with respect to the project.
May 2006: Warner Brothers, allegedly with knowledge of the 1991 Quitclaim, entered into a quitclaim agreement with Gordon under which it claims to have acquired the rights to the Watchmen project. Fox alleges that these facts demonstrate that, at the very least, it retained distribution rights in Watchmen, that it performed all of its obligations under the relevant agreements, and that while it granted Gordon what amounted to an option to acquire its rights, neither Gordon nor his successors ever fulfilled their contractual obligations to Fox. Indeed, Fox contends that Warner Bros either knew or turned a blind eye to the fact that Fox had retained distribution rights in the project, and that Gordon had not perfected his interest in the Watchmen project before quitclaiming it to Warner Brothers. In any event, Fox now contends that it presently holds rights in Watchmen and that Warner Brothers’ production of the Watchmen film infringes on those rights.

The really bad news, according to Variety, is that Fox has no interest in settling and would rather kill the movie outright. Quote: "When you have copyright infringement, there are some damages you never recover," said a source close to the litigation. (No one’s asked Alan Moore about copyright violation here, strangely, either here or with Fox’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.) This makes great sense to Fox, who spent more than $1 million developing Watchmen and can now force competitors Warner Bros and Paramount to eat tens of millions in sunken costs of making the movie and cripple their spring.

Blog@Newsarama points to all the legal documents: the Fox complaint, Warner Brothers’ response, the disputed legal documents and the judge’s order.

Watchmen: The Real Owlship??

Watchmen: The Real Owlship??

In news that can only be classified as weird and off-putting while still bordering on cool, there is a new blog entry on the Watchmen official site. In the latest entry, titled "A Mysterious Discovery in New York," production designer Alex McDowell recounts a story where he and director Zack Snyder received a call from a location scout in New York about a house that they "just needed to see." They then rush to a brownstone in Chelsea, to an abandoned building that was days away from destruction. Here’s part of the post:

“The scout tells us that the tunnel and chamber was once a spur of a forgotten subway, an underground maintenance area for the cars, built in the 1920’s. In 1955, the tunnel suffered a collapse that flooded this section of the system, and the lower portions of the track were abandoned. 100 yards from the repair yard the tunnel now opens up directly to the East River.”

“Clearly someone had broken into the chamber from above, probably in the sixties, and build the steel stair that connected directly the basement we’d stumbled into.”

I suppose McDowell and/or Snyder’s plan here is to allude that the two really went on this "trip" and really found Dan Drieberg’s Owlcave. Viral marketing for this film is completely expected, given Snyder’s fanaticism of the source material and the success DC and Warner Bros. had with the bombardment of Dark Knight virals. With this in mind, one has to wonder how dumb they think the fans are.
 
Are we supposed to believe that this place exists? Or that these perfectly lit, professionally shot pictures were done on a whim? Come on guys, show me hundreds of twenty-somethings with Comedian buttons on, or billboards for Nostalgia, but keep the faux Blair Witchery out of this. Check out more pics of the "real" Owlship below, and you can check out the full blog entry here.
 
   
 
 

 

DVD Review: ‘Legion of Superheroes’ Vol. 2

Maybe the most surprising thing about how much I’ve enjoyed the first episodes of the Legion of Superheroes cartoon series is how little I enjoy the team’s comic book adventures. I always liked the concept of the Legion, but the futuristic team has too large of a cast and too complex of a history for me to jump into.

The cartoon series (from Warner Brothers and DC) fixes those two criticisms by hemming in the team size to a handful of key characters and streamlining the background: A young [[[Superman]]] is pulled into the future to help a fledgling group of heroes save the world. Simple enough.

In this second volume (containing the episodes [[[Champions]]], [[[Fear Factory]]], [[[Brain Drain]]] and [[[Lightning Storm]]]), the team goes through a series of challenges that manage to be kid-appropriate without being overly simplistic. Like the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, the Legion consists of standalone episodes but also builds a deeper narrative of themes and plots, giving it appreciable depth.

Particularly, this volume highlights the character development of Lightning Lad as he becomes a greater hero, and that of his brother, Mekt, as he becomes a villain. Meanwhile, Superman finds his powers have limits, which serves as a lesson as he tries to become the universe’s greatest hero.

I definitely wouldn’t put this series on the same level as [[[Batman: TAS]]], but it’s a fun, clever and exciting foray into the 31st Century.

‘Terminator’ Sequel to Open in May 2009

‘Terminator’ Sequel to Open in May 2009

Even though the film only has a director and one actor confirmed so far, has no finished script and hasn’t even started shooting, it already has a release date locked down. To what lucky film am I referring?

According to Variety, it’s the next chapter in the Terminator saga, known by the rather long title Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. The film, helmed by Charlie’s Angels‘ McG and starring Batman Begins‘ Christian Bale, has now become Warner Brothers "tentpole" Memorial Day weekend release hitting theaters on May 22nd, 2009. It will be the fourth installment in the Terminator franchise after 2003’s Terminator: Rise of the Machines, and is still in the process of casting but is expected to start shooting May 5th in New Mexico.

This latest Terminator, part one of a planned trilogy, tells the story of an older John Connor (Bale) who leads a ragtag band of nuclear holocaust survivors in a desperate battle to stop the evil defense computer Skynet from finishing the job it started and wiping out the rest of humanity. Sounds interesting.

Live-Action ‘Akira’ On the Way from Leo DiCaprio

Live-Action ‘Akira’ On the Way from Leo DiCaprio

Yesterday, the Hollywood Reporter dropped the news that Warner Brothers has snapped up the rights to make a two-part, live-action version of the Japanese Anime classic Akira. Not only that, but producing the film will be superstar Leonaro DiCaprio. In addition, first-time feature helmer Ruairi Robinson will be taking on the directing duties and Gary Whitta is writing the screenplay.

But wait, there’s more.

Today, it was confirmed by Aint it Cool News that DiCaprio will, in addition to producing, star in the live-action film as the lead character Kaneda. Also confirmed is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, soon to be seen in the upcoming live-action G.I. Joe, will join him in the cast as Tetsuo. 

In case you’re not familiar with Akira, it originally came out in 1988 as a manga and then as an animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. The story, set in a futuristic post-nuclear war "New Tokyo" in the year 2019, concerns a teen biker gang member called Tetsuo who is subjected to government experiments which unleash his hidden and terrifying powers. Kaneda, the gang’s leader and Tetsuo’s best friend, must then find a way to stop the ensuing destruction caused by his friend, even if it means killing him.
 
I first saw the film in the early ’90s and was blown away. At the time it was like no other animation I had ever seen and I’ve always secretly harbored a desire to see it as a big-budget, live-action feature. I guess I’ll get my wish. Hopefully, that will be a good thing.
 
Warner Brothers is looking at a Summer 2009 release for the first film.

 

 

Court subpeonas Disney and Warner Brothers characters

Court subpeonas Disney and Warner Brothers characters

Sufferin’ succotash. From the AP:

ROME — Tweety may get a chance to take the witness stand and sing like a canary.

 An Italian court ordered the animated bird, along with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and his girlfriend Daisy, to testify in a counterfeiting case.

In what lawyers believe was a clerical error worthy of a Looney Tunes cartoon, a court in Naples sent a summons to the characters ordering them to appear Friday in a trial in the southern Italian city, officials said.

The court summons cites Titti, Paperino, Paperina, Topolino — the Italian names for the characters — as damaged parties in the criminal trial of a Chinese man accused of counterfeiting products of Disney and Warner Bros.

 

Fantastic Four director looking at The Losers

Fantastic Four director looking at The Losers

The Hollywood Reporter, via Reuters, says that Tim Story, director of the new Fantastic Four film opening this weekend, will direct The Losers for Warner Bros. The series, which debuted 37 years ago in Our Fighting Forces, was recently revived for DC’s Vertigo line by Andy Diggle and Jock.

Story said, "I told my agents I didn’t want to do another comic book.  I had been in the world of fantasy and I wanted to do something very edgy, a realist action movie. I wanted to find something like a Bourne Identity or Black Hawk Down."’

You can download the first issue of the Vertigo series at http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1687

Thundercats Scratch the Big Time

Thundercats Scratch the Big Time

Variety reports that Warner Bros. Studio has optioned a script by Paul Sopocy to turn the Thundercats cartoon into a CGI-animated feature.

Sayeth the article, "Warner-based Paula Weinstein will produce through her Spring Creek Prods. banner, along with Dick Robertson and Lew Korman. Property revolves around a group of humanoid cats (with feline names like Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro and Cheetara) who must flee their planet of Thundera after it’s destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer, bent on killing them off."

Give me strength.  Seriously, what’s next, Jem and the Holograms?  I’m much more psyched about Warner acquiring the screen rights to Terry Brooks’ Shannara series

Anaheim, Kookamonga, and… Allentown!

Anaheim, Kookamonga, and… Allentown!

If you’re going to be in or near Allentown Pennsylvania between June 24 and September 16 of this year, you might want to drop by the Allentown Art Museum to enjoy their massive Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons exhibition.

A greatly expanded version of the exhibit that played New York’s prestigious – and extremely expensive – Museum of Modern Art back in the mid-80s, the program consists of over 160 drawings, paintings, cels and sundry objects used by directors Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett and others in the creation of the famous Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig cartoons from the classic period of the 1930s through 1960. Dozens of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies will be shown in their entirety as part of the exhibition.

Artwork from Bob Clampett’s Porky in Wackyland copyright Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.

Warner Bros. donates $$$ to Tasmanian Devil

Warner Bros. donates $$$ to Tasmanian Devil

According to the Associated Press, the Australian government says Warner Bros. will donate money to save the Tasmanian Devil from extinction.

The real animals — which don’t actually whir around in little tornados — are being wiped out by a contagious cancer that creates "grotesque facial tumors."  Since Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumour Disease (warning: photos at link) was first detected in northeast Tasmania in the mid-1990s, more than 90 percent of the devils have perished.  Scientiests estimate that within five years, there will be no disease-free population in Tasmania.  It is hoped that the uninfected animals can be moved to island sanctuaries. 

Paula Wriedt, who is Minister of State Tourism, Arts and Environment (talk about job-sharing!) said Warner Bros. will donate $1 Australian (about $0.82 American) from the sale of each DVD in a new series to be relasaed in Australia.  The University of Tasmania will handle the donations.

"This partnership will go a long way to assist in raising funds, awareness and future opportunities to ensure the survival of the Tasmanian Devil," she said.

The AP says that a spokesman for Warner Bros. did not immediately return calls for comment on Saturday. It’s a holiday weekend, people!

Artwork copyright Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.

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