Watchmen settlement 3:30pm today?

Update! : ”Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over “Watchmen,” with the studios scheduled to present the settlement to Judge Gary Feess on Friday morning and request that the case be dismissed. Terms of the agreement will not be disclosed, but it is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film’s boxoffice. Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it own a piece of the “Watchmen” property going forward. The studios are set to release a joint statement announcing the agreement Friday.” (THR)

Our friends at IESB have stumbled upon a “notice of settlement” bearing the names ‘Warner Bros’ and ‘Fox’.

The filing states the following —

* They’ve been in settlement talks since the status conference with the Court on December 29, 2008.
* There are still a few remaining settlement issues.
* Both parties, Fox and WB, are requesting a hearing on January 15 (today) at 3:30pm to report on the final resolution or alternatively to discuss how to proceed on January 20th.

In addition, THR says ”The parties involved in the “Watchmen” dispute filed a notice of settlement status yesterday in court, making it official that settlement talks are making progress.

”According to the filing, the parties are “continuing to address a few remaining settlement issues” and have requested a hearing today at 3:30 PM “to report on a final resolution or, alternatively, to discuss how to proceed on January 20, 2009.” Nothing like deadlines to get the ball rolling.

”The hearing is now scheduled for tomorrow at 9:30 am, at which point the parties will announce they have settled the case.”