The countdown to midnight is a go: Watchmen legal issues resolved.

Well, it seems that the Watchmen fiasco is finally at an end, according to the Hollywood Reporter:

Warner Bros. and Fox have resolved their dispute over “Watchmen,” with the studios scheduled to present a settlement to Judge Gary Feess this morning and request that the case be dismissed.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but the deal is said to involve a sizable cash payment to Fox and a percentage of the film’s boxoffice grosses; Fox will not be a co-distributor on the film, nor will it co-own the “Watchmen” property, but it will share in revenue derived from it. The studios released a joint statement last night.

This outcome is no surprise, and shouldn’t be to anyone not willing to make a tempest in a teacup. This was never about not letting the movie come out—it was about Fox wanting a piece of the action on something that they foolishly didn’t know what to do with when they originally had it in front of them on a silver platter (what? Fox screwing up a science fiction property? Naaaah).

Details are lacking, and it may be too early to tell, but one good thing may come of this, though (aside from Fox getting a bunch of money they didn’t have to work for, that is): if Fox and the Warners “will share in revenue derived from [Watchmen]”, it may put the preliminary kibbosh on any ill-advised sequels or spinoffs down the road. That, my friends, is a good, good thing.