From geeky fans of the comic to regular dudes who just love sitting in movie theaters for three hours, is there anyone among us who doesn’t want to see Zach Snyder’s Watchmen movie do justice to its source material and earn like a billion dollars at the box office? Anyone besides Alan Moore, the cranky author of the original graphic novel, who hates it when Hollywood adapts any of his work? Astonishingly, there is — it’s Watchmen producer Larry Gordon!
If Gordon had his way, Watchmen would probably get crappy reviews and flunk out of theaters in a weekend. Why? Because Warner Bros. holds him personally responsible for the legal battle with Fox — a judge ruled in December that he did not properly secure distribution rights — that ended last month with a payout of $1.5 million and 8.5 percent of the final gross. So, if the movie’s as massive a success as everyone’s predicting, Gordon might, pending litigation, have to reimburse WB for the cost of the settlement, which could run him “tens of millions.â€
He’s also pushing for a deal that would have his lawyers’ firm’s malpractice insurance pay for all litigation, and let him keep whatever massive back-end profits he makes on Watchmen. But, failing that, he’ll probably just drive around to a bunch of theaters next Friday night telling everybody to go see the Jonas Brothers’$2 3-D movie instead.