A Los Angeles federal judge has moved the trial for Watchmen back two weeks to Jan. 20 after declining to issue a ruling on whether Fox or Warner Bros. controls the rights to the project, reports Variety.
Judge Gary Allen Feess set the new trial date Monday, noting that he’s required to handle a criminal matter on Jan. 6. He also refused to make a pre-trial summary judgment — as requested by both sides — because, he said, the contracts between Fox and Watchmen producer Larry Gordon are so open to interpretation that a trial is required.
Fox’s suit, filed in February, contends that it retains distribution rights to the graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons. It asserts that Gordon’s option to acquire Fox’s remaining interest in Watchmen was never exercised, thereby leaving Fox with its rights under a 1994 turnaround agreement.
Warner Bros. is still targeting a March 6 release.
Source: Variety
