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Judge Gary A. Feess will have the ultimate say over whether Warner Bros. will be allowed to release Watchmen on March 6. Both WB and 20th Century Fox have come to an agreement that Feess should be allowed to determine if the movie should be released into theaters before the January 20 start to the trial that will determine whether Warners infringed on Fox's copyright claim to make and distribute the film.

With less than two months to go until the movie is supposed to open, this sort of yes/no decision needs to be made as soon as possible so the film's marketing strategy can be finalized and advertising purchased in advance of print and television deadlines.

The latest Watchmen video diary has arrived and this time it profiles the Minutemen, the original group of costumed vigilantes that were the precursors of the main heroes we'll see in the movie. Find out who Dollar Bill, Captain Metropolis, Hooded Justice, the Silhouette and the rest of the original group of 1940s crimefighters were and how they'll look in Watchmen:

In the latest video promoting Watchmen we have director Zack Snyder talking about what makes his movie different from your average romantic comedy, or for that matter, the latest Batman or Spider-Man movie. We also get a few new images that we haven't seen yet including that awesome moment from the comic book when Jacobi opens his refrigerator and sees the note that Rorschach left for him ("Behind you.")

After the surprise Christmas Eve ruling from Judge Feess now we've finally heard from Warner Bros. The company issued a statement this afternoon stating that it has no plans to alter Watchmen's March 6, 2009 release date and the company has faith that its claims of full ownership will eventually prevail, either in the present trial or at a later appeal. In other words, they're not blinking.

Here's Warner's full statement as reported by Variety:

"We respectfully but vigorously disagree with the court's ruling and are exploring all of our appellate options. We continue to believe that Fox's claims have no merit and that we will ultimately prevail, whether at trial or in the Court of Appeals. We have no plans to move the release date of the film."

20th Century Fox also had an official statement to say. "We are gratified by the recognition of our rights in the judge's order, which speaks for itself."

Judge Gary Allan Feess has pushed back the start of the Watchmen court case between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. two weeks. It will now begin on January 20, 2009.

The delay was caused by another criminal court case that the judge has an obligation to fulfill before moving on to the Watchmen trial. Variety reports that Feess also refused both sides request for a pre-trial summary judgment citing that the agreement between Fox and producer Larry Gordon -- which Fox claims gives them the sole rights to make a Watchmen movie -- is so ambiguous that a trial is required to determine who is right.

The iTunes store is now offering the Comic Con sizzle reel as a pay-for download. First screened at last July's Comic Con International in San Diego, the Watchmen footage in question mostly contains footage not seen in the two trailers.

Zack Snyder chatted with Sci Fi Wire and told the site that the latest cut of his film is 2 hours, 35 minutes, down ten minutes from its earlier running time. The director also said that his own cut, which will appear on the DVD, clocks in at 3 hours, 10 minutes.

Snyder also talked a bit about how the animation for the DVD's "Black Freighter" supplements is looking to him. "As you watch it, you can have this experience where it's like the graphic novel," he said. "I haven't shied away from trying to enjoy the artwork. It's been fun to make some of those pictures real."

The second trailer for Watchmen has debuted at Yahoo Movies. As previously described, this preview puts the mystery element of the story at the forefront of the presentation: someone is murdering masked heroes and the remaining masks have to find out whodunnit. You can choose to watch the trailer here on Yahoo or use the video below:

Wow, don't these new posters look sweet? Warner Bros. has now handed out six new teaser posters for Watchmen that showcase six of the film's superhero characters such as Dr. Manhattan, Nite-Owl II, Silk Spectre II, The Comedian, Rorschach and Ozymandias. Each poster includes a quotation from the character as given in the graphic novel, such as The Comedian's quip that "We're society's only protection." That's the Comedian one-sheet to your left; all six posters can be viewed in our gallery.

A second theatrical teaser one-sheet has debuted at Yahoo Movies. "This city is afraid of me, I've seen it's true face," are the words that run across the skyline while a rain-soaked Rorschach looks up a New York City street, his back to the viewer. The poster design follows in step with the Comedian one and remains true to the look of the comic book.

Watchmen director Zack Snyder gave an exclusive one-on-one interview with Dark Horizons and brought everyone up-to-date with how the movie is progressing, as well as commenting on the reports generated by two recent test screenings. Snyder confirmed that the second Watchmen trailer would play in front of Quantum of Solace, opening in theaters in North America on November 14.

He also offered his thoughts on how his movie could be received when it comes out next March. "We had the best test scores in the history of Warner Bros. with 300 and I kept telling them look the movie is not like 300, don't that it is - it's not going to be the same experience. Some people are going to go 'What the f**k is this,' and I go that's OK. That's the thing that you fight... The one thing that was cool was that anyone who had read the graphic novel who was at the screening rated the film 'excellent', for me I'm like 'I'm done'."

Snyder thinks that his final cut will clock in at about "2 hours, 42 minutes with credits" and that the plan is still on track for a 3 hour+ DvD version to include all of the Black Freighter material seen in the comic book. He also admitted to being unsure how the movie would be embraced by Asian audiences since The Dark Knight didn't light their box offices on fire and it featured superheroes grounded in the real world. Also, look for a cameo by Snyder's young son as the child version of Rorschach in flashback scenes.

The eighth and latest Watchmen video journal has come out and this time the center of attention is on the ladies of the film, the mother and daughter crimefighters that carry the name of Silk Spectre. As played by Carla Gugino and Malin Akerman, we see both of the Spectres busting the chops of criminals in both snippets from the film as well as behind-the-scenes looks. Also, the differences between the two characters are touched upon.

Warner Bros. has released the first theatrical teaser poster for Watchmen. If it looks familiar to you then that's a sign that you've read the comic book: beware of falling Comedians.

The sixth day of a new month brings with it another new video journal for Watchmen and this time we finally get to see how the special effects team helped actor Billy Crudup play the part of the godlike Dr. Manhattan. The video, hosted on SciFi this time, shows the complex light suit that Crudup wore on set to achieve the strange blue glow that his superpowered character gives off naturally. The light suit has dozens of rows of blue LEDs that can be dimmed or made more brilliant depending on what the scene requires for Manhattan. The video also shows what the production did when they needed to cast a bigger glow from a 45-foot-tall Manhattan when he is working in his laboratory. Two words: balloon light!

Today on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank the studio showed about 25 minutes of footage from Watchmen to a roster of invited online journalists. The footage screened included the picture's opening segment featuring the murder of The Comedian, followed by the film's opening titles which provide an overview of this world's history from the 1940s to present day in the film (1985) and how superheroes have influenced its culture and politics. What followed next was the scenes showing a self-exiled Dr. Manhattan on Mars, deep in contemplation. Flashbacks show how Manhattan came to be before returning back to the current moment when he constructs a glass building of clockwork-like elegance and complexity.

The final sequence shown begins shortly after Dan and Laurie, the Nite Owl and Silk Spectre, have just been intimate onboard Nite Owl's ship. They hatch a plan to spring Rorschach from prison. Arriving on scene the two costumed heroes fight their way to the unmasked Rorschach where the latter is just finishing up with a little personal business.

After the footage was shown director Zack Snyder answered questions from the press. The current running time of the film is about two hours, 45 minutes. At this time the "Black Freighter" footage isn't being included in the film's theatrical cut; instead it will appear in the DVD edition of the movie. Snyder was also asked if he would be involved in a sequel or prequel would Warner Bros. decide to pursue one. He flat out refused.

Coverage can be found at Ain't It Cool News, CHUD, Collider, Coming Soon, Dark Horizons and IGN.