Fox and Warner Bros fight over Watchmen

New York Times claims that the legal battles going on between Fox and Warner Bros. over the release of Watchmen are getting extremely sticky.

Fox has said it will seek an injunction blocking Warner's planned release of the film next March. Warner has argued that Fox should not be allowed to stop the movie, after standing by while Warner and its partners on the film, Paramount Pictures and Legendary Pictures, spent more than $100 million on the production, directed by Zack Snyder (300).

In a summary of its position in Friday's report, Warner said Fox "sat silently" as one of the producers of Watchmen, Lawrence Gordon, took the project "to studio after studio with Fox's express knowledge."

Fox, which filed a lawsuit in February, has claimed in its own filings that Mr. Gordon did not keep the studio apprised of his plans, as required by a 1994 agreement. That deal granted Mr. Gordon rights to Watchmen in "turnaround" - an industry term for arrangements under which producers can move a project from one studio to another under certain conditions.

In Warner's version of events, Mr. Gordon, who is not named as a defendant in the Fox suit, actually offered the project to Fox in 2005, shortly before bringing it to Warner after years of trying to make the movie with Paramount. "Fox simply rejected it," Warner said in the Friday filing.


As of now, Watchmen is still scheduled to be released on March 6th, 2009.

Spielberg will still direct Tintin

UPDATE: The True Hollywood Reporter ran a story earlier today about Peter Jackson taking over directorial duties on the first installment of Tintin, a film that was to supposed to be helmed by Steven Spielberg. That information has now been proven false. In a follow-up story, Spielberg has corrected the news, which originally came from Brussels' Herge Studios, home to Tintin. He says that he remains committed to directing this first film in a proposed trilogy. It will be his first directorial gig since jumping behind the lens on this summer's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Both Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg denied that there were any changes to their original plan of attack. Jackson still plans on directing the second film, and will serve as a producer on the first.

Here is the original story:

Steven Spielberg was all set to direct the first big screen installment of the iconic comic strip character Tintin. But now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Jackson will helm the theatrical debut of this highly anticipated trilogy instead.

While Peter Jackson was supposed to direct the second film, it is not known whether he will continue down that path, or if another unnamed director will step in to continue the trilogy. This first Tintin episode is based on two of the original books entitled The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure. The script is by Stephen Moffat, best known for his work on Doctor Who.

The film will be animated using new motion-capture technology. Thomas Sangster is set to play Tintin, while Andy Serkis is taking on the role of his best friend Captain Haddock. The film was originally set to be released in 2009, but we may not see it until 2010.