With the distinct possibility of Warner Bros. much anticipated WATCHMEN being delayed or at worst, indefinitely shelved, many OWF readers (and indeed those of other websites) have called for a boycott of all feature films made and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
It’s a petition I fully support. If Universal, Pixar, Disney, Warner Bros. or Paramount were in Fox’s place, I’m not sure I would do the same out of loyalty to WATCHMEN but because it’s Fox, I don’t think it will prove to be difficult.
Boycotting Fox’s movies are something I tend to do anyway.
Here’s the big movies from Fox’s 2009 slate…
- ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS 2
- AVATAR
- THE TOOTH FAIRY
- THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
- STREET FIGHTER: THE LEGEND OF CHUN-LI
- DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION
- THEY CAME FROM UPSTAIRS
- X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
- NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM 2: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN
Only AVATAR I would shed a tear for. WOLVERINE I’m planning on seeing too but I don’t think it’s going to be great. The rest, I wouldn’t be seeing anyway.
4 Comments
Surely all of the fault in this case lies with Warner Bros? If they had done their due diligence before embarking on the project, and paid Fox the minor sum they were owed, then none of this would have happened. Perhaps Fox have been slightly underhand in the way they have waited until now to exploit this situation, but WB is a rival studio, so why shouldn’t they take the chance to put one over on a competitor, and look for a greater slice of the financial pie for themselves? I honestly can’t see why Fox are being painted as the villain of the piece in this mess.
I’d put the blame squarely at the feet of Warner Bros and Lawrence Gordon for having the arrogance to think they could get away with it.
The only thing Fox is to blame for is continually making shitty movies. They need to be cut some slack on this whole Watchmen thing.
That’s their 2009 slate? Geez. I’m still going to see some of those just to see how bad they are. Either online or on bootleg.
Yeah, it’s a no-brainer for me as well, apart from Avatar. Come to think of it, I don’t think I bothered with any Fox movies in 2008 either, just because the line-up looked similarly awful. I might have been tempted this year by Night At the Museum 2 (I didn’t mind the first one) and Wolverine, but I can wait till they’re on cable.
@Phil & willr: Warner were under the impression they had the rights, the problem was with how the contracts were written (letting Larry Gordon take over if the project was ever greenlit). WB had actually bought the rights to film as far as it was concerned, it was an obscure clause in the contract that’s allowing this to happen – so the lawyers are to blame if not Fox.
Besides, even if they were in the right, why block release? Why not sue for a share in profits? Easy money, considering that wouldn’t have had to take any risk nor put in any effort to get the cash with that kind of deal. Even if WB were in the wrong somehow, it’s Fox’s decision alone to try and stop anyone from seeing the movie.
“The only thing Fox is to blame for is continually making shitty movies.”
Well, isn’t that the problem? Fox have continually passed on the chance to make Watchmen, making pure crap instead. Somebody else finances what looks to be the ultimate version of that story, now they’re just pissed that somebody else made a good job.
Why else do you think they waited until the movie was in post-production before they filed suit? If it was to protect their “property”, they should have sued when the script or casting was announced in Variety, not when the second trailer was released…