Overview
- During a 2008 fight over distribution between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., Snyder said he secretly thought an indefinite shelving of the finished film would be “awesome.”
- The dispute was settled and Watchmen opened in theaters on March 6, 2009.
- The film cost an estimated $120–$150 million and grossed about $187 million worldwide, with a 64% Rotten Tomatoes score cited in the coverage.
- Creator Alan Moore removed his name, assigned his royalty rights to artist Dave Gibbons, and has long rejected film adaptations of his work.
- SlashFilm’s Feb. 15, 2026 retrospective revisits Snyder’s remark and frames it against recent studio shelving flare‑ups, including Coyote vs. ACME, which is scheduled for August 2026.