May 13th has been set as the date for both sides to meet with mediator Daniel Weinstein to discuss whether or not Gordon - whose failure to secure the rights to the comic properly, before offering them to Warners, caused the legal trouble in the first place - owes money to Warners or even Fox as a result of the lawsuit. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Warners are seeking full reimbursement for their costs as a result of the affair, while Gordon's attorneys are claiming that Warners are at fault because they made the movie despite being told that the rights issue may be a problem.

Whatever the settlement, still unsolved will be exactly how much Fox will make from the movie; due to Watchmen's underperformance at the box office, analysts expect the amount to be somewhere around 5% of the film's proceeds, with Warners and Gordon both having to contribute towards that amount.

Date set for 'Watchmen' mediation [Hollywood Reporter]

Gordon - thought by many, including Warner Bros., to be responsible for the confusion over the rights to the graphic novel - has such a great deal as producer of the Zack Snyder movie that he gets a share in the profits... but, because of the lawsuit between Fox and Warners, he also may owe Warners their legal fees from losing the case. The Hollywood Reporter explained:

The better the film does, the more he could pocket as a profit participant but the more he might have to fork over to make Warners whole. That's because Warners claims its agreements with Gordon contain an indemnity clause requiring the producer to reimburse it for any unforeseen problems with the pic.

Neither Gordon nor his litigation lawyer Dale Kinsella would comment, but they have maintained in court filings that Gordon is not responsible for the litigation and owes Warners nothing. Reps for Warners also declined to comment, but several sources said the studio plans to aggressively pursue Gordon for the settlement costs. In court papers Warners said Gordon should be liable "for all damages Warner Bros. suffers as a result of Fox's claims."

It gets better; Gordon himself is blaming his lawyers for the whole mess, and is asking that their malpractice insurance contribute towards any potential costs. Never mind the movie, the legal shenanigans surrounding it are entertainment enough to justify Alan Moore's filmic wrath.

'Watchmen' suit puts producer in odd position [Hollywood Reporter]

First we hunted down original producer Larry Gordon, who's currently working on Watchmen, to see if there was any truth to the rumor.

We heard there was a Predator reboot in the works with Robert Rodriguez?

I haven't seen that.

Do you think it could be done?

Yeah of course. But I don't know who would be the Arnold. Arnold is the only guy you could put against the Predator. I haven't heard that though that's a good idea. Why not?

So we thought and thought and thought, who is big enough to hunt down a real life Predator, and worthy of replacing Arnold and The Body? And low and behold we ran into Michael Duncan, out promoting his next part as Balrog in the Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li film. Duncan already has a history with Rodriguez, from his Sin City days, and he's big enough to be in listed in my Predator Commando Fantasy League, so we asked him.

I know you work with Robert Rodriguez a lot, have you heard anything about his Predator reboot and would you want to be in it?

I would love to. I love those movies. I love Predator and Alien Versus Predator I could watch that thing over and over and over. I would love to battle the Predator. That's what I would do.

Well you should tell Rodriguez that and make it happen.

They don't think, some studio execs don't get certain things at some points. They think 'oh that's not going to work,' or 'ooh that's too different.' They don't know that I would kill for roles like that. That's what I want to do.

And I agree, if they're going to make this movie - which we still highly doubt because Rodriguez still has a lot on his plate - Duncan should be the high-watermark for the weight class of the future would-be Commandos. Except for the short bookish fella with glasses who's the brains of the outfit (and who should be named Rabbit, Books or Pencils). So let's hope Hollywood is listening and gives Duncan the mini-gun. Can't you imagine him saying, "If it bleeds, we can kill it"?

Until then you'll have to wait and see Duncan in Street Fighter on February 27th.

Both studios will formally present their settlement to Judge Gary Feess tomorrow morning and request that the court case be dismissed, according to reports. While terms of the settlement are not being released, Fox will not be involved in the distribution of the movie, nor will it make any claim to the Watchmen property moving forward, apparently (although it is believed that the studio will share in profits from the movie's release). Neither studio is confirming the settlement; Warners are refusing to comment, and Fox deny that a final deal has been reached.

Part of Warners' cash may come from the pockets of producer Larry Gordon, whose involvement with the property brought about the rights confusion in the first place; Warners are rumored to be looking at ways to make Gordon pay the studio's legal fees for this case, including possible court action.

Nonetheless, one thing is now known; barring any more unexpected lawsuits, Watchmen will be released March 6th as planned.

Warners, Fox settle over 'Watchmen' [Hollywood Reporter]