‘Watchmen’ producer speaks out on ruling

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The most spirited squabbling in the legal fight over ‘Watchmen’s’ distribution rights had been limited to lawyers for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. But now one of the film’s producers has joined the fray, urging Fox to drop its case and let the film come out as planned.

In a letter first published on the entertainment news web site HitFix on Thursday, ‘Watchmen’ producer Lloyd Levin said Fox repeatedly passed on making the movie, and is now trying to take advantage of Warners’ willingness to develop and produce director Zack Snyder’s epic superhero movie.

‘Shouldn’t Warner Brothers be entitled to the spoils—if any—of the risk they took in supporting and making ‘Watchmen’?’ Levin wrote. ‘Should Fox have any claim on something they could have had but chose to neither support nor show any interest in?’

Fox sued Warners in February, claiming the studio and ‘Watchmen’ producer Larry Gordon never obtained the necessary movie rights from Fox. U.S. District Judge Gary Feess ruled in Fox’s favor on Dec. 24, saying that Fox, not Warners, owns a copyright interest in ‘Watchmen.’ Fox, the judge said, controls at the very least the film’s distribution rights.

Warners was set to release the $130-million film on March 6, but Feess will convene a mini-trial in the coming weeks to decide who gets to release the movie. Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Levin’s letter. Levin did not return a telephone message.

Levin, an established producer with credits on ‘United 93,’ ‘Hellboy’ and ‘Boogie Nights’ among many others, recounts in his letter the film’s long and often troubled path to the screen. He says that Fox dismissed the film’s basic screenplay with an expletive.

‘Conversely, Warner Brothers called us after having read the script and said they were interested in the movie—yes, they were unsure of the screenplay, and had many questions, but wanted to set a meeting to discuss the project, which they promptly did. Did anyone at Fox ask to meet on the movie? No. Did anyone at Fox express any interest in the movie? No. Express even the slightest interest in the movie? Or the graphic novel? No,’ Levin writes.

The producer concludes by calling Fox’s conduct ‘beyond cynical,’ saying, ‘…if Fox had any say in the matter, Watchmen simply wouldn’t exist today, and there would be no film for Fox to lay claim on.’

-- John Horn