The long and bitter struggle between WB and Fox over Watchmen has finally reached an end. The film will see it’s March 9th, 2009 release date.�

Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over “Watchmen,” with the studios scheduled to present a settlement to Judge Gary Feess this morning and request that the case be dismissed.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film’s boxoffice grosses; Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it co-own the “Watchmen” property, but it will share in revenue derived from it. The studios released a joint statement last night.

“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.”

Fox sued Warners in February, claiming copyright infringement based on agreements the studio had with producer Larry Gordon.�Feess ruled Dec. 24�that Gordon did not secure proper rights to “Watchmen” from Fox before shopping the project and setting it up at Warners.

Feess’ decision prompted settlement talks to heat up because Warners faced the prospect of an injunction stopping its March 6 release of the $130 million comic book adaptation…

…But with the dispute settled, the statement took a positive tone: “Warner Bros. and Fox, like all ‘Watchmen’ fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film’s March 6 release in theaters.”

So fans can breathe easy, they will get their movie on time. Today the official Watchmen site became available.�

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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