The Watchmen Domino Effect

Now that The Watchmen dispute has been settled, all the "freaks and geeks" of the internet can breath a sigh of relief, including myself. I'm breathing said sigh due to the fact it is good for the film industry that the studios settled, not so much that  The Watchmen is coming out as scheduled. Frankly, I am not all that excited about it, but I hope it does blow my hair back.

Details of the settlement have surfaced via Variety and some of the details involve big name actors and blockbuster films:

Though it was denied by both studios, sources said that in recent weeks that WB and Fox discussed several intriguing horse-trading scenarios after WB choked on Fox’s initial ask of 10% gross and distribution in some overseas territories.

One scenario had WB moving "Terminator Salvation" away from its Memorial Day weekend opening on May 22, because it collides directly with Fox’s launch of "Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian." WB considered that, but there was a major problem. "Terminator Salvation" rights owner Halcyon has that May 22 release date stipulated in its contract. With sci-fi films "Transformers 2" and "Star Trek" due this summer, there is no better berth for "Terminator Salvation" than the four-day holiday weekend, so a moving wasn’t possible.

Another area that was explored involved Steve Carell. Fox wants to pair the actor with Tina Fey in "Date Night," a comedy that Shawn Levy will direct. Fox needs to get that film in production by the spring, because Fey has a small window before resuming her duties of writing and starring in "30 Rock."

WB was in a position to block that, because it held an option on Carell for a "Get Smart" sequel that it could have used to ruin Fox’s "Date Night" dreams. WB didn’t press that, because it has a strong relationship with Carell and it was clear that "The Office" star badly wanted to make the movie with Fey. WB agreed to push "Get Smart 2" to spring 2010, a move made before the studio settled its "Watchmen" dispute.

The Watchmen is sure to effect audiences in the theater as it did with comic book fans years ago but to think it could have delayed WB's Summer blockbuster T4 due to this Watchmen settlement amazes me. It seems Fox was succesful in delaying a possible Get Smart sequel due to WB not wanting to upset Carrell, maybe The Watchmen are much more important than I give them credit for.

I am not sure if there is really a "good guy" or "bad guy" in this situation, like today's films, there is more of a gray area. Warner Bros. and their battalion of lawyers surely knew about the rights issue but went forward anyway to capatalize on the super hero boom. Fox obviously had no intention of going forward with Watchmen any time soon but found an opportunity to stick it to WB.

I'm not sure if Fox and WB are both winners or both losers? I guess fans of The Watchmen are the winners in all of this.