Although Warren Beatty's 1990 Dick Tracy was panned by critics, it did stay true to the comic strip, had an all-star cast (under heavy makeup), featured a very hot Madonna and some great songs by Stephen Sondheim. It also launched the actor/director romance with the smoky singer.
Now Beatty wants to make a sequel and has sued newspaper publisher Tribune Co., claiming he holds the film rights for a Dick Tracy II, according to Variety.
"Beatty, who starred in and directed the 1990 film 'Dick Tracy,' based on the classic comicstrip, is seeking a ruling that he still owns film and other rights, plus $30 million in damages. The damage figure presumably is based on the profit Beatty expects to see from a sequel. Domestic box office for the film in 1990 was $100 million, making it the ninth highest-grossing film of that year.
"According to the complaint, filed in L.A. Superior Court by Beatty's longtime attorney Bert Fields, Tribune assigned film, television and other rights in Dick Tracy to Beatty in a 1985 agreement. The assignment was subject to a complex, multistep reversion process, which Tribune would be required to follow for it to recapture the rights."
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With more than 50 years of comic book fandom and 30 years of gaming under my belt, I've begun seeing the whole world as a comic book movie!