Comments for Exclusive: An Open Letter From Watchmen Producers – Entertainment News, Events, Exclusives & Reviews for Movies, Film, Television, Music

- CyanideJay said
- Jan 11, 09 at 06:51PM EST
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- Kloipy said
- Who watches the Watchmen? Let's hope someone will
- Jan 11, 09 at 02:55PM EST
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- twinstar said
- As an independent producer and writer, I am heartened by Lloyd Levin's comments. He is truly passionate about the Watchmen project and is equally passionate about the time and effort everyone involved in the project has put in to get it where it is today. Fox however only seem to be interested in money. They have sat back and watched the project take shape and it does not surprise me at all to see them taking such legal action now when the movie is on the verge of release NOT on the 1st day of shooting. I am not naive enough to say that studios are not interested in money, but it does seem that Fox are only interested in being part of what I think will be a box office smash after putting in the smallest amount of effort to get the movie where it is now. Common sense and morality would dictate that Fox should drop their case and take it as a lesson not to dismiss projects that might be a bit different or risky, but I fear that a court will rule against Warners.
  
  I wish Warners all the best and I also show my full support to the cast and crew of Watchmen who do not deserve their passion and efforts to be overshadowed by such a flagrant show of money grabbing.
  
  If I am ever lucky enough to get my projects noticed by Hollywood, I shall be avoiding Fox like the plague. They are a MONEY studio NOT a MOVIE studio!!
  
  Stuart
  Twinstar Movies
- Jan 10, 09 at 02:13PM EST
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- Angstrom said
- Imagine this was a classic "Watchman" car that had been sitting on Old Man Fox's lot for years. One day Lloyd has a look at the car - it's in pretty rough shape, but he thinks he can get it up to scratch. He approaches Old Man Fox about fixing up the car, but Old Man Fox says "That heap of junk? It'll never be worth the trouble! Get the hell off my lawn!".
  
  Undaunted, Lloyd goes and finds the Warner brothers, who agree to help him recondition the car. The start going over the car to see what repairs need to be made and Old Man Fox sees them. "Get the hell away from my car, whippersnappers!", he yells. They ignore him, and work on the car every chance they get.
  
  Finally, there's an opportunity to enter a car competition. They find a willing driver, Schneider, to race the car and win first place.
  
  At this point, if this were a movie, Old Man Fox would come out and say he never thought he'd see the old car in such fine condition and tell them to keep the car.
  
  But this isn't a movie, it's real life. And Old Man Fox still owns the car.
  
  The producers (and WB execs involved) screwed up. Big time. In fact, they keep screwing up - the legal team at Fox must be laughing themselves silly with how easy it will be to file for misconduct with all the letters that the producers keep submitting. If they weren't self-employed the producers would have been fired by now.
- Jan 10, 09 at 01:45PM EST
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- flickpodcast.com said
- Fox's assertion of their rights in the beginning was the real-life equivalent of Gene Wilder's version of Willy Wonka saying, "no stop don't". The claim was a half-assed assertion that was easy for WB to laugh off. Upon realization of how truly big this will be, Fox proceeded to obviously drag their feet and wait until the film was complete and WB is painted in the proverbial corner. Tremendous shame on Fox, all the way. Fanboys, unite and stick to your guns...boycott Wolverine, if you have the willpower. I know I do.
- Jan 10, 09 at 12:50PM EST
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- Xmascake said
- Sorry for empty post above. Itchy trigger finger. The quickest way to resolve this scandalous piece of profiteering would be for an anonymous source to release a high quality copy straight onto the web.(To get this far in the process there are many copies available) Mere hours laters Fox and WB would be watching their potential profits dwindling and be forced to come to a conclusion to get the movie legitimately out there. I'm not for advocating piracy as such but this movie is largely a labour of love made for fans by people who are fans. And it is ultimately fans' money which keeps the studios in the manner to which they are accustomed.
- Jan 10, 09 at 07:41AM EST
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- Xmascake said
- Jan 10, 09 at 07:30AM EST
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- xlelliot said
- This whole thing reminds of childhood bullshit; a parent gives a younger sibling a hand-me-down from an elder sibling; something they haven't played with in years that has been sitting in a box. And you know what, the situation just ends up being two kids fighting over some stupid toy.
  
  I will admit that WB has some fault in this situation, but why didn't Fox stop the film from being made? Why did they wait until it was done? Simple they wanted someone else to take the monetary hit and then reap in the spoils; a real dick move.......
- Jan 10, 09 at 04:56AM EST
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- Aquaduck said
- Irregardless of how Mr. Levin feels - the law is the law. Good for Fox for protecting their rights. They are doing what any person would do when millions are on the line.
- Jan 9, 09 at 08:51PM EST
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- Grulg said
- I'm gonna be the wet blanket of the lot and say-Who Cares-? Seriously-it's a movie of a famous 20 year old graphic novel. That's all. These clowns will wind up putting it out w/ all the money being divvied up like Constantinople was by the Venetians and Latins in 1204. Breaking out the hair shirts and getting worked up about this jest ain't worth it.
  
  'Sides we all know-NEEDS GIANT ROBOTS.
- Jan 9, 09 at 07:41PM EST
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- stormwatcher said
- Great, well written letter. Congrats on the scoop
- Jan 9, 09 at 11:17AM EST
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- drow said
- "I bet someone at Fox had a parent like mine who instilled the same sense of fairness and justice in them."
  
  i wouldn't count on it, unfortunately. fox is the 800 lb d1ckwad of hollywood.
- Jan 9, 09 at 11:13AM EST
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- krylyyk said
- I agree with Mr Levin, and I truly appreciate all the sympathies being thrown his direction, and at those who made the movie. However, at some point, we must honestly stop, and ask the question, "Hey Warner Brothers? If you were going to throw over 100 MILLION dollars at something, shouldn't your legal department have taken the time to make sure you owned the rights?" Yes, I think Fox is being a bunch of selfish pricks about this, but I think Warner Bros. was clearly not on the ball, either, and there are repercussions for actions, whether they satisfy our artistic wants or not.
- Jan 9, 09 at 10:53AM EST
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- Major Bloodnok said
- While I agree 100% with Mr. Levin morally, I fear that, unfortunately, Fox has a legal argument. That's the rub, not whether Fox is doing what's right. Fox is like the little kid at the playground who wants to play with a toy truck that other kids are playing with. The problem is, it may be his truck.
  
  I really want to see this movie, and I hope they get it worked out. I think Warner Bros. (who has done some crappy things in the past too) may have to shell out some money or split profits for that to happen. It's show BUSINESS, not show ART.
  
  That said, I hope Fox gets smoked on this.
- Jan 9, 09 at 10:29AM EST
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- ONeillSG1 said
- If what Lloyd said is true, that Fox had a chance to make the movie but passed, that's a damning piece of information. A good attorney can work with that, especially if there is email evidence as Lloyd said supporting the idea of the script being "a piece of sh!t." That shows some form of intent of griminess I think. Right? This is why I never became a lawyer. It's gets too dirty in that courtroom sometimes.
- Jan 9, 09 at 10:14AM EST
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- galactus said
- At some point, it should be clear who owns the rights to make this movie. While I agree that a lot of hard work is in danger of being needlessly wasted. But Watchmen is not their original creation and they should have secured the rights to making this BEFORE spending $millions on making it. Surely they did that, right? Doesn't seem clear here... As a fan, I say yes, Fox sucks... but logic says it isn't that simple.
- Jan 9, 09 at 10:13AM EST
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- ehaislar said
- Interesting stuff, hope it all get sorted out.
- Jan 9, 09 at 10:03AM EST
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- Disappearer said
- Just makes Fox sound more clueless than ever, as well as morally bankrupt.
  
  Message to Fox execs: BACK OFF!
- Jan 9, 09 at 08:29AM EST
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- Dr. Know said
- Warners must not have any case for appeal to allow Lloyd to write this letter. I respect Larry and Lloyd and have had the good fortune to work alongside them both of them but anyone who knows what's up, this is not honest journalism at all. Fans should be furious at Warners for screwing up on clearing the chain of title and their refusal to just settle and make the payment to Fox so they wouldn't have this ugly issue to deal with so close to release. I agree with the previous poster in that what is truly mind-boggling is how many fans are showing this knee-jerk reaction in siding with Warner Bros. on this just issue because they released Dark Night. Puhhlease. A judge looked at all the data, and has ruled that Fox owns the rights. Warners should have just paid them years ago when they originally were approached by Fox. Copyright infringement is copyright infringement, sorry WB - open up your wallet; pay whatever it costs and lets get this movie released on March 6.
- Jan 9, 09 at 05:13AM EST
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- Dr. Know said
- Jan 9, 09 at 04:56AM EST
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- ejroy said
- Fox are greedy bastards who saw WB about to make a splash where they themselves hadn't the creative vision to recognize a great project. Now there out to stick it to WB and hurt lots of artists and fans. I'm calling for a boycott of Fox film and television until they play fair. No ticket sales, no reviews posted, no DVD sales, or viewers to bolster ratings. Hit them where it hurts and take them down a couple pegs. They had loads of time to make any claims - this was certainly an underhanded maneuver.
- Jan 9, 09 at 04:06AM EST
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- darwinmayflower said
- Mori,
  
  miss you at AICN.
  
  please contribute there too.
  
  it's just less fun without you.
- Jan 9, 09 at 03:05AM EST
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- darwinmayflower said
- I will officially ban all Fox movies.
  
  who's with me?
- Jan 9, 09 at 02:48AM EST
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- darwinmayflower said
- Jan 9, 09 at 02:47AM EST
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- narwel said
- Maybe Lloyd Levine can talk about why the judge called out Larry Gordon for claiming attorney-client privilege instead of helping figuring out the contracts.
- Jan 9, 09 at 12:43AM EST
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