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Buckaroo Banzai And The Legal Battle For Television Rights

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buckarooMGM has filed suit against the writer, Earl Mac Rauch, and the director, Walter Richter, to clarify who has the rights to make a television version of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension. The 1984 cult classic starred Peter Weller as the titular character, a rock star / inventor / brain surgeon and his band of Hong Kong Cavaliers as they try to prevent an alien invasion. The film also starred Jeff Goldblum, Clancy Brown, Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow and Christopher Lloyd.

The property came back into the public eye when MGM got Kevin Smith on board a television remake slated for Amazon in 2017. Smith said he was contacted by MGM after he directed an episode of The Flash last season.

The conflict, which is broken down in the paper work here, stems from both Rauch and Richter claiming rights to do a television series as well. MGM is asking the courts to rule on the rights issue so they can proceed in making their series without the defendants interference. They say the defendants' ownership claims should be barred by the statute of limitations. MGM Television is joined in the lawsuit by Orion Pictures Corp and PFE Library Acquisition Company.

[Source: Deadline]

 

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Dan WicklineAbout Dan Wickline

Has quietly been working at Bleeding Cool for over three years. He has written comics for Image, Top Cow, Shadowline, Avatar, IDW, Dynamite, Moonstone, Humanoids and Zenescope. He is the author of the Lucius Fogg series of novels and a published photographer.
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