The upcoming Warner Brothers release of Watchmen, scheduled for March 6th, could face a delay – not due to production, however, but due to the courts. Fox is asserting that it still has rights to the film from a 1991 quit claim between the distributor and producer Larry Gordon of Largo Entertainment. In 1994 Gordon negotiated a buyout formula with Fox, but claims Fox did not follow the agreement. Speed up to 2006, when Warner Brothers acquired the distribution rights. Fox claims it still as the rights as Gordon didn’t but them out. A judge has denied Warner’s motion to dismiss, so it looks like this will end up in the courts, and I’m sure the first volley will be to file an injunction on the movie’s release.

Now that all the deals are done, writing has begun on the upcoming The Hobbit (and its unnamed, unplotted sequel). The writing team from The Lord Of The Rings trilogy – Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens – will work with director Guillermo del Toro to flesh out the script. Filming will not begin until Fall 2009 at least, again in New Zealand.