Fox Sues Warner Bros. Over ‘Watchmen’

Yesterday we reported that a lawsuit filed by J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate and publisher HarperCollins against New Line Cinema could impede production of "The Hobbit" films, and now another much anticipated film could become mired in legal limbo.

20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over "Watchmen," the big-screen adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel currently in production. According to Fox, Warner Bros. does not own the rights to produce such a film, with Fox citing a complicated string of ownership conditions that the studio alledges were never secured by Warner Bros.

According to the Hollywood Reporter:

Fox seeks to enjoin Warners from going forward with the project, saying in the lawsuit that it seeks to "restrain (Warner Bros. Pictures) from taking actions that violate Fox’s copyrights and which stand to forever impair Fox’s rights to control the distribution and development of this unique work."