'Watchmen' Fans Pledge To Punish Fox

By Eriq Gardner

The brouhaha between Fox and Warner Bros. over the rights to make a "Watchmen" movie has focused primarily on the trouble Warners might be in.  But Fox isn't getting a free pass either.

Comic book fans have descended upon Entertainment Weekly message boards pledging to boycott two of Fox's biggest upcoming films, "The Day the Earth Stood Still," starring Keanu Reeves, and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The magazine doubts that a boycott by a hoard of "geeks" (their word, not ours) will do any good except "rile up a small army of Fox lawyers." (Let us hope at least that these were in fact comic book fans, and not disguised, spamming Warners lawyers looking for a better route than settlement.) Of course, a few lost ticket sales won't damage the studio, but the message board postings also include threats to hurt Fox' upcoming slate by waging a directed piracy campaign towards the films.