News from the Dick Tracy camp:
Quote:
He’s gone for years without as much as a single publicity bump, and all of a sudden, Dick Tracy is back in the spotlight, two ways.
Not bad for a 74 year-old character created by Chester Gould to be a cop who could stand up against gangsters and crime during a time when police forces were rife with corrpution and plagued by the likes of Capone, Dillinger and the growing threat of organized crime.
The first way Tracy is back in the headlines – 68 year old actor Warren Beatty has filed suit against Tribune Media Services, which claims to wholly control the Tracy character. According to the suit (for $30 million), Tribune and Beatty entered into a complex legal agreement in 1985, under which, Beatty took control of the character. Beatty’s involvement resulted in the actor/director giving the rights to Disney, which led to the 1990 Dick Tracy movie which co-starred Madonna. The film was successful, making over $100 million, and serving as a launch of a merchandise line, and mild resurgence in the character’s popularity.
Tribune reclaimed the rights to Tracy in 2002 in a manner, according to Beatty’s complaint, that did not adhere to the 1985 agreement. Though there was a stipulation under which Beatty had to give the character’s right back to Tribune, it was to be done if several conditions were met, and two-year notification was given.
Apparently the rights now reside with Beatty, despite Tribune’s claim, as Beatty’s lawyer, Bertram Fields has stated that Disney returned most of the rights to the character back to Beatty. Why the bother of the suit? After 15 years, Beatty is reportedly ready to make a new Dick Tracy film, but cannot proceed due to Tribune’s claims on the character. According to Beatty’s attorney, his agreement with Tribune was negotiated to allow Beatty to make a second film.
“It was very carefully done and they just ignored it,'' Fields is quoted by the AP as saying. “The Tribune is a big, powerful company and they think they can just run roughshod over people. They picked the wrong guy.”
Beatty’s suit asks for a ruling that he owns the film and other rights to the character, as per the 1985 agreement, and is seeking $30 million in damages. Variety speculates the amount is based on the profits Beatty would expect to see from a second Dick Tracy film.
The second way Tracy is back in the headlines - Variety announced today that Tribune has teamed with Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Outlaw Productions partners Bobby Newmyer and Scott Strauss to bring the character back in his own television series set in contemporary times, akin to the modernization of Superman via Smallville. If the series takes off, and is successful, it’s reported that it will move to film.
