The war against Fox: Directors slam studio and fans act over Watchmen lawsuit

THIS YEAR has been a tough one for 20th Century Fox - and it's not getting any better.

The studio has come under continuing criticism for its moviemaking methods in a series of fresh attacks.

Two directors have now spoken out against Fox while superhero enthusiasts are taking action against the company over its lawsuit to try to stop Warner Bros from releasing Watchmen.

This all comes on top of allegations of Fox chairman Tom Rothman interfering in the Wolverine movie by demanding changes to a set while director Gavin Hood's back was turned.

Many have claimed Fox has a notorious reputation for 'micro-managing' projects in a way that stifles creativity and ruins its relationship with film-makers.

The latest attacks come in a year when Fox has had no less than three sci-fi flops - Meet Dave, The Happening and X-Files: I Want to Believe. Many fans have not enjoyed Fox's output for several years, saying that the potential of its films is butchered by studio execs who just want short, choppy, kid-friendly fodder rather than quality movies with enduring watchability.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a Fox flick that runs much longer than 90 minutes these days. Movies like X2 are the exception...and they are critically acclaimed. A length of more than two hours did no harm to The Dark Knight, not even to the epic-length Lord of the Rings movies.

Here's the latest on the war against Fox...

SILVER SURFER SPIN-OFF

Director Alex Proyas (see picture above) has now confirmed what most of us knew already - that he won't work with Fox any more after the studio chiefs upset him during his time helming the sci-fi flick I, Robot. His name had been linked to a Silver Surfer spin-off from the Fantastic Four movies, but Proyas says it's not gonna happen.

So why would he never consider a Silver Surfer movie? He told MTV: "Because it's a Fox picture. And I'm determined never to work with them ever again because of my experience on I, Robot."

He says Fox already "messed up" the Surfer's story when he was introduced in the last Fantastic Four movie, and added: "Silver Surfer would have been something I would have loved to have done. He's one of the last cool ones left, really."

BABYLON A.D.

This sci-fi flick starring Vin Diesel and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz has already been dubbed Babble-On A.D.D. That's ADD as in attention deficit disorder.

And Kassovitz says it's all Fox's fault. He told AMC TV: "I'm very unhappy with the film. I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn't respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience."

"The scope of the original book was quite amazing," says Kassovitz (pictured right). "The author was very much into geopolitics and how the world is going to evolve. He saw that as wars evolve, it won't be just about territories any more, but money-driven politics. As a director it's something that's very attractive to do."

But he says Babylon A.D. fails to deliver any of these messages. "It's pure violence and stupidity," he admits. "The movie is supposed to teach us that the education of our children will mean the future of our planet. All the action scenes had a goal: They were supposed to be driven by either a metaphysical point of view or experience for the characters... instead parts of the movie are like a bad episode of 24."

"Fox was sending lawyers who were only looking at all the commas and the dots," he says. "They made everything difficult from A to Z." The last stroke, Kassovitz says, was when Fox interfered with the editing of the film, hacking it to a confusing 93 minutes by taking 15 minutes of vital material out of the film.

Kassovitz added: "I don't see how people who went through all these amazing blockbusters like The Dark Knight and Iron Man this summer will take it. I should have chosen a studio that has guts. Fox was just trying to get a PG-13 movie. I'm ready to go to war against them, but I can't because they don't give a s--t."

Diesel too was astounded at the film's length. "Am I even in the movie any more, or am I on the cutting room floor?" the actor joked.

WATCHMEN

When Fox filed a legal claim that it still holds the rights to the Watchmen movie and wants to stop the film being released by Warner Bros, all hell broke loose online. Questions are being asked about why Fox waited until Warner had completed filming before beginning its lawsuit.

It's left a bitter taste with superhero fans. Many are threatening to boycott Fox's movies and to try to damage their films through distributing pirate copies online.

A petition has been launched online by my fellow superhero enthusiasts over at Comicbookmovie. The petition calls for a boycott of Fox films and has 1,624 supporters so far. Comicbookmovie also reports that some fans are planning to picket Fox headquarters.

A trial date for the lawsuit hearing has now been set for January 6. The judge ruled that a preliminary injunction postponing the movie was inappropriate and that the issues were too complex to be resolved on an interim basis. He's also wants the case to move quickly. But fans rejoiced that he refused an immediate injunction against the movie.

Warner Bros is fighting back by arguing that Fox "sat silently" while Watchmen producer Lawrence Gordon shopped the project "to studio after studio with Fox's express knowledge."

Fox had been pushing for a June court date, which would mean the film's March release was cancelled.

Fox's already tarnished reputation among sci-fi and superhero fans is taking a real bashing here. Will fans trust or support anything that Fox does after all this? Seriously, shouldn't Fox be getting its house in order and making good movies again rather than releasing poor films and then trying to stop other studios making movies? Time for a change at the top perhaps?