While specifics of the agreement were to be confidential, nothing remains a secret for long. So if you want to know if it was worth Fox’s effort, this should be a good indication:
Fox gets an “upfront cash payment that sources pegged between $5 million and $10 million.”
Fox gets “a gross participation in WATCHMEN that scales between 5% and 8.5%, depending on the film’s worldwide revenues.”
Fox gets to participate “as a gross player in any sequels and spinoffs.”
Warner Bros. gets to release the movie on time, and without Fox’s logo. Doesn’t really seem an even trade, but I was never great with math.
Whew. Let’s hope the audience is the real winner…