 On December 24 , 2008 , Judge Gary A. Feess granted 20th Century Fox 's claim to a copyright interest in the film . An attorney for 20th Century Fox said that the studio would seek an order to delay the release of Watchmen . Producer Lloyd Levin revealed in an open letter that in 2005 both Fox and Warner Bros. were offered the chance to make Watchmen . Fox passed on the project while Warner Bros. made a deal to acquire the movie rights and move forward with development . An internal Fox email documented that executives at Fox felt the script was " one of the most unintelligible pieces of shit they had read in years " . On January 15 , 2009 , the trade press reported that Fox and Warner Bros. had reached a settlement . Fox would receive a share of the box office , but no future ownership of the film . The settlement awarded Fox up to $ 10 million in development costs and legal fees , plus worldwide gross participation scaling from 5 to 8 @.@ 5 percent . 
