Warren Beatty Sued Over 'Dick Tracy'

Warren Beatty is being dragged into court over Dick Tracy, of all things. The actor- writer-director-producer-retired lothario has been going back and forth with Tribune Media Services for a couple of years over movie and television rights to the famed comic strip detective, and now Tribune is suing to get those rights back permanently. The story goes back to 1985, when Beatty first acquired the rights to make what eventually became an Oscar-winning 1990 film. However, Tribune charges that Beatty has "made no productive use" of those rights in over a decade, and the media company claims those rights should now revert back to their original owner. Not lost in all of this is the fact that Tribune is bankrupt and wresting this property away from Beatty would grease the creditors at least a little bit. One revelation - at least to me - is Beatty's assertion in court documents that he has been working on a Dick Tracy TV special, and therefore he should still retain the rights. Tribune has since countered, asserting that if Beatty makes a new Dick Tracy project just to hold on to the rights, it would neither benefit the Academy Award winner nor Tribune, and on top of that, Tribune doubts whether the project in question even meets the standards of requirement to keep the original rights to the character active. I have to say, it does sound suspect that Beatty would be working on a TV special now, after the paper trail of court documents had begun. And what in the world would that be, anyway? My guess is that if Tribune says it's not a sufficient enough project to keep the rights that Beatty is cooking up some kind of 20-year anniversary thing for his movie, which would conceivably come out in 2010. That, or Warren has an 80th anniversary project planned for the comic strip, which would make more sense but would be delayed another year. It couldn't possibly be another extension of the original story, could it?

Comments

[Sensaes]

Hmm...interesting. Echoes of the Miramax and My Name is Modesty case (Modesty Blaise).

[Orinn]

now I have to go watch the movie again and see if it has held up to time well or not.

[MikeB]

I wish that the Tribune would get the rights back and move the character forward with a new project. It's a fantastic American icon and a shame to spend so much time on the shelf. Perhaps a new feature or tv project could reignite the daily strip.