Fox seeks to block Watchmen release
Twentieth Century Fox is seeking an injunction to block the release of Warner Bros movie The Watchmen.
The film studio is taking action after a Los Angeles court ruled Fox could hold some rights to the material, meaning they could file a copyright lawsuit.
Fox argues it acquired motion picture rights to the Watchmen graphic novel in the late 1980s, and that even though it relinquished certain rights to the material in 1991 it held onto the right to distribute the first movie.
Fox spokesman Gregg Brilliant said: "We will be asking the court to enforce Fox's copyright interests in The Watchmen and enjoin the release of the Warner Brothers film and any related Watchmen media that violate our copyright interests in that property."
But Scott Rowe, a spokesman for Warner Bros, said the ruling only means that the case will go forward and confirmed the film will be released* on March 6.
The Watchmen is based on a 1980s DC Comics graphic novel about flawed superheroes, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.
DC Comics, the company behind the Watchmen graphic novel, is a subsidiary of Warner Bros, which is owned by Time Warner. Fox is owned by News Corp.
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