Fox and Warner Bros. had agreed to let Judge Gary A. Feess decide whether to issue an injunction against the Watchmen. The decision was scheduled for Jan. 20, but Warners is asking that the hearing be moved up to as early as Monday because “time is critical,” the studio argues in papers filed this week.
Watchmen for a release on March 6th and the studio must soon commit to tens of millions of dollars in marketing for a film it isn’t sure it can release.
The injunction fight stems from Feess’ Christmas Eve preliminary ruling that Fox has a right to distribute the Zack Snyder adaptation of the popular graphic novel. Feess found that producer Lawrence Gordon failed to acquire Fox’s entire interest in Watchmen, thereby leaving Fox with rights under a 1994 turnaround agreement.
You can read more on the papers filed this week here.
