NEWS: What the Watchmen Settlement Cost...

So, earlier in the week, to much much hoopla and applause, Fox and WB found it in their greedy, gold laden hearts to come to an agreement on the much anticipated adaptation of the famous graphic novel, Watchmen.

However, not much was mentioned about the finances behind the said agreement. That was until now. Thanks to /Film AGAIN for the heads up...

According to Variety’s sources, Fox will receive an upfront payment totaling between $5 and $10 million, which will cover $1.4 million that the studio invested in development fees, plus millions of dollars in legal fees.

As already mentioned, Fox will not be distributing the film, but under the terms of the settlement, will get gross participation of between 5% and 8.5% depending on the film’s worldwide revenues.

The Hollywood Reporter, our source for the original settlement story, incorrectly reported that Fox would not be entitled to any rights for Watchmen spinoffs and sequels (they have since corrected the error). Fox will, in fact, participate as a gross player in any future Watchmen-related properties, although Snyder has already denied that he will participate in a prequel/sequel.

Allegedly, other options for the settlement were discussed recently, according to Variety’s sources. These included moving WB’s Terminator Salvation release date from May 22nd, to avoid competing with Fox’s Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian. The studios have denied that these scenarios were ever evaluated.

That all sounds about right. Really though, the only thing that matters, is that we WILL be seeing this film come March 6th. That's all I care about...

Come back later for more news and notes...

Go see something good!