Tribune Media service is apparently suing actor and director Warren Beatty to regain control of the movie and TV rights to Dick Tracy, the comic strip detective with his trademark yellow jacket and radio watch.
Beatty acquired the rights to the franchise in 1985, and proceeded to make and star in a lukewarm 1990 feature. There’s a lot of rumor swirling around whether or not Beatty is ash-canning this project — in other words, “initiating” work on a TV special, just to continue holding the rights to the franchise.
[Via ICv2.]
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:33 am
Beatty’s been “working” on Dick Tracy for years. I remember he was “working” on a special DVD release a few years back, and the result was a standard barebones edition with the movie and maybe a trailer.
I guess this big-time fan of his 1990 movie was foolish in thinking he was actually working on something new with Dick Tracy rather than just tying up the rights so he could keep them for himself… :-/
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I gotta admit that I kind of enjoyed the Dick Tracy movie… I certainly didn’t take it seriously at all, but it was just a fun, goofy romp. I had no real knowledge or love of the original comics or anything, so I had nothing to be offended by. I do remember reruns of the stupid cartoon series that had brief appaearances by Tracy at the beginning and end yet otherwise had NOTHING to do with Dick Tracy himself, and that was crap.
Anyhow, I’d never heard anything about Beattyneeding to do something to keep the rights, or that he had any reason to even want to keep the rights. How odd that he, himself, had the rights but not whatever studio made the movie. I mean, after a moderately recieved movie that was fun, but wasn’t ever going to warrant a sequel, what else was he planning to do? I don’t see Beatty committing to making a TV series. If he was going to, I can’t imagine that he’d wait nearly 20 years.
Anyhow, like Green Hornet, unless it’s something really specatcular I don’t see a new Dick Tracy, even one that’s more serious, getting much more than a collective “meh” from film audiences.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Then again, we’re talking Tribune Media here, which alone is enough reason to put me on Beatty’s side, no questions asked.