That's right. Fox will simply want their cut (whether Fox really deserves it or not, if Fox can show some legal encumbrance or become a big enough pain, WB will buy them off).
WB will argue that Fox has put no money into this production and deserves nothing, so that will be an interesting tug of war. It's possible that a clever exec at WB will offer Fox a cut of licensing royalties in lieu of movie participation. Why? Because the Watchmen isn't a kids property and licensing dollars will be modest. Contrast with Disney-Pixar's Cars which was a mediocre performer (relative to other Pixar movies), but has been a licensing/toy machine with good staying power.
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That's right. Fox will simply want their cut (whether Fox really deserves it or not, if Fox can show some legal encumbrance or become a big enough pain, WB will buy them off). WB will argue that Fox has put no money into this production and deserves nothing, so that will be an interesting tug of war. It's possible that a clever exec at WB will offer Fox a cut of licensing royalties in lieu of movie participation. Why? Because the Watchmen isn't a kids property and licensing dollars will be modest. Contrast with Disney-Pixar's Cars which was a mediocre performer (relative to other Pixar movies), but has been a licensing/toy machine with good staying power.