Cue up Leonard Cohen’s “Halleujah,” the Watchmen dispute is finished.
For a lawsuit that seemed to get heated in the last few weeks, I’m glad that a settlement has been reached. Under the agreement, Fox will not be a co-distributor. Concrete figures are not known, but the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the box office grosses. From a joint statement:
“Warner Bros. acknowledges that Fox acted in good faith in bringing its claims, which were asserted prior to the start of principal photography,” the statement read. “Fox acknowledges that Warner Bros. acted in good faith defending against those claims.”
While Fox’s track record at the box office for 2008 was pretty unspectacular, aside from Marley & Me and Horton Hears a Who?, frankly I’m not happy that Fox gets any cash payment or grosses. But at least the film will stick to its March 6th release date. Now as long as Fox doesn’t get a percentage of the DVD sales, which is said to include multiple editions, I can live with that.
