Remember back in 1990 when Warren Beatty both starred in and produced Dick Tracy? I never saw the flick (personally, I was more interested in the Warren Beatty/Madonna hookup that resulted from it), but apparently, plenty of people did. The film earned more than $160 million worldwide.
It seems that in order to make the film, Beatty had to strike a deal with the Chicago Tribune, which owned the rights to the comic strip. The original deal stated that Beatty could retain the rights if he made another film, television series, or television special featuring the crime fighting detective.
(This image, by Alan Light, is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License)
But, if Beatty didn’t film anything within “a certain period of time,” the rights would revert back to the Tribune. I guess the Tribune felt that Beatty had dragged his heels too long because they sent a letter on November 17, 2006, saying he had exactly two years to begin production on something.
Beatty did begin filming something – on November 8th of this year. Beatty hopes that the suit will give a declaration that he did indeed start filming in time to retain the rights.
Brace yourself America – Rosie O’Donnell is back and this time it is on primetime television. Rosie is hoping to bring back variety television, which I am pretty sure died out in the ‘80s with the “Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters” show.
This Wednesday, we will see how the genre does when Rosie hosts “Rosie Live.” The one hour show will also feature Gloria Estefan, Harry Connick Jr., Alec Baldwin, Alanis Morrissette, Jane Krakowski, Ne-Yo, Liza Minnelli, Rachael Ray, Clay Aiken, and Kathy Griffin. In addition to the stars, Rosie will introduce new performers such as the Lombard Twins tap dancing and some group called Anti-Gravity.
Right now, this is being listed by NBC as a “special,” but you can bet if it makes good in the ratings, Rosie will be back for more.