Watchmen may never make it’s intended March release due to a surprise ruling by the Los Angeles judge handling the case.�

The judge intends 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.

The decision was disclosed in a five-page written order issued on Wednesday. Gary A. Feess, a judge in the United States District Court for Central California, said he would provide a more detailed order soon.

Fox has been seeking to prevent Warner from releasing the film. The superhero adventure, based on the �Watchmen� graphic novel, is being directed by�Zack Snyder�(who also directed �300�) and has shaped up as one of most eagerly anticipated releases for next year.

A Warner spokesman, Scott Rowe, declined to comment on the ruling and the studio�s plans.

At an earlier hearing, the judge said he believed that issues in the case could be settled only at a trial, which was scheduled for late January. On Wednesday, however, Judge Feess said he had reconsidered and concluded that Fox should prevail on crucial issues.

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

Fox acquired rights to the �Watchmen� graphic novel in the late 1980s for the producer Lawrence Gordon, but eventually dropped its own plan to make a movie from its story, about the underside of life for superbeings.

This is really bad news for all of us who have been looking forward to seeing the film. I just hope something will work out in terms of a payout or something. Fox doesn’t want to release the film themselves, they want to stop it from seeing the light of day. I’m going to hold a personal grudge against Fox if they don’t even let the movie come out. What do you think?

Source: The New York Times

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