watchmen_smileyfaceWho owns the Watchmen? That's what federal court judge Gary Allen Feess will have to decide upon when the cast of who has the movie rights to the Watchmen comic book series begins in Los Angeles on January 6. 20th Century Fox is claiming that it still owns the rights under the terms and conditions of a 1991 contract with producer Lawrence Gordon. Warner Bros., the company that has made the Watchmen movie, says no way. Feess wants the lawyers for Warners and Fox to use the rest of the year to line up their ducks and get the discovery and deposition part of the case done with. The judge probably wants this case to go to trial ASAP because Warners has picked and put a lot of money into opening Watchmen on March 6, 2009, precisely two months ahead of the start of the trial. Fox has even gone so far as to say that they aren't going after some bucks from the rival movie studio; instead, they plan on blocking Warner Bros. from releasing the movie, period. The film has cost Warners about $125 million dollars so far. You can find out more about the film on MovieSet's sitelet for Watchmen.