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'Buckaroo Banzai' Creators Claim MGM Infringed Copyright by Shopping TV Series

In the second chapter in the legal fight over Buckaroo Banzai rights, Earl Mac Rauch, who wrote the 1984 cult film about a neurosurgeon/rock star who saves Earth from malevolent aliens, and Walter Richter, who directed the picture, bring counterclaims against MGM over its plans to make a television version.

According to original complaint filed by MGM in November, Rauch and Richter have gotten in the way of reprising Buckaroo's adventures for Amazon Studios with Kevin Smith at the helm. After The Hollywood Reporter broke news about the litigation, Smith bowed out. Nevertheless, there's still plenty to resolve, with both sides seeking declaratory...
See full article at The Hollywood Reporter - TV News »

Buckaroo Banzai TV Series Loses Kevin Smith Amid MGM Lawsuit

In between the likes of Yoga Hosers and his directorial input on DC’s small-screen universe through The Flash and, soon, Supergirl, writer-director Kevin Smith has spent the past few months developing a TV spinoff based on cult MGM classic, The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension.

All of that progress has come screeching to a halt, however, with Deadline reporting that Kevin Smith has abruptly pulled out of the gestating Buckaroo Banzai TV show. Smith later posted a frank 18-minute Facebook video to explain his reasoning, which can be traced to the federal lawsuit filed by MGM against the original creator Earl Mac Rauch and W.D. Richter, the director of the 1984 flick, over complicated rights issues.

Originally set for a 2017 premiere by Amazon Studios, there’s no word of an official statement from the studio at the time of writing, though the mere fact that Smith is
See full article at We Got This Covered »

Kevin Smith is no longer involved with the Buckaroo Banzai TV series

  • 29 November 2016
  • by Kevin Fraser
  • JoBlo
If you were one of those who were looking forward to Kevin Smith's adaptation of The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai for Amazon, I've got some bads news for you. Earlier today MGM filed suit against director Walter D. Richter and writer Earl Mac Rauch, the two men who brought Buckaroo Banzai to life with Peter Weller back in 1984. Both Richter and Rauch claimed to have rights in any... Read More...
See full article at JoBlo »

Newswire: Kevin Smith has now dropped out of the Buckaroo Banzai TV show

Earlier today, we reported that MGM had filed a lawsuit against Earl Mac Rauch and W.D. Richter, the director and writer behind The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension, over some disagreements regarding the rights to the original movie and its universe. MGM has been trying to make a Buckaroo Banzai TV series with Kevin Smith, but Rauch and Richter have been claiming that they control the rights to the characters, so the studio wants to stop them from trying to prevent the further development of its TV project.

Ironically, that seems to have backfired, as the show itself might not happen now because of the lawsuit. According to Deadline, Kevin Smith has dropped out of the project, explaining that he was “caught off-guard” by this legal disagreement. “This is not what I signed up for,” he said, adding that he “literally had no idea” that Rauch ...
See full article at The AV Club »

Kevin Smith Says He’s “No Longer Involved” In ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ TV Series

Kevin Smith Says He’s “No Longer Involved” In ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ TV Series
There hasn’t been a single ruling in MGM’s copyright lawsuit for a Buckaroo Banzai TV series, but there’s already two clear casualties: Kevin Smith and the show itself, at least for now. After the studio filed legal paperwork November 23 against the 1984 movie’s director W.D. Richter and writer Earl Mac Rauch, the Clerks creator went online today to declare “I’m no longer involved” with the proposed Amazon TV series version. “This is not what I signed up for,” Smith said…
See full article at Deadline TV »

Newswire: MGM gears up for a Buckaroo Banzai reboot by suing the writer and director

Way back in May, we reported that Kevin Smith had started developing a TV show based on the cult classic film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension for MGM. That project appears to be moving forward now, as MGM has begun getting its proverbial ducks in a row by filing a lawsuit against Earl Mac Rauch and Walter Richter, the writer and director behind that original film. The issue is that MGM claims to own the Buckaroo Banzai rights, but Rauch and Richter have apparently been sending letters to the studio indicating that they own the rights, so MGM wants to get it legally cleared up before it gets invested in this whole TV show thing.

This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says that the lawsuit claims that Rauch and Richter have been “aware” of MGM’s intention to make a Buckaroo Banzai TV show since
See full article at The AV Club »

Kevin Smith drops out of Buckaroo Banzai TV show over legal kerfuffle

Joseph Baxter Louisa Mellor Nov 29, 2016

MGM is taking the creators of Buckaroo Banzai to court over the rights to the property; Kevin Smith exits the project...

Fans of the perennial cult classic sci-fi film The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension had plenty of reasons to get excited this past July when it was reported that a belated follow-up to the 1984 film was in the works, set to be revived by Kevin Smith – in conjunction with MGM – as a television series for Amazon.

See related Brad Peyton interview: San Andreas, The Rock, Statham, Star Wars Rampage movie to shoot this year, The Rock confirms new writers

However, it was later reported that original writer Earl Mac Rauch and director W.D. Richter were claiming the property rights. Consequently, it’s looking like this matter is destined to be settled in a courtroom.

It has been revealed (via THR) that,
See full article at Den of Geek »

MGM Sues ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ Filmmakers Over TV Rights

It’s not a great interdimensional breakthrough, but MGM is taking legal steps to ensure it has rights to make a TV version of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. The 1984 cult pic about a rock star/surgeon and his Hong Kong Cavaliers battling an alien invasion was written by Earl Mac Rauch and directed by Walter D. Richter, and both of them claim to have rights to a television remake. MGM begs to differ. “There is now a substantial controversy…
See full article at Deadline TV »

MGM Sues ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ Filmmakers Over TV Rights

MGM Sues ‘Buckaroo Banzai’ Filmmakers Over TV Rights
It’s not a great interdimensional breakthrough, but MGM is taking legal steps to ensure it has rights to make a TV version of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. The 1984 cult pic about a rock star/surgeon and his Hong Kong Cavaliers battling an alien invasion was written by Earl Mac Rauch and directed by Walter D. Richter, and both of them claim to have rights to a television remake. MGM begs to differ. “There is now a substantial controversy…
See full article at Deadline Movie News »

MGM files lawsuit against Buckaroo Banzai writer and director over rights dispute, Kevin Smith departs proposed series

It was a few months ago that an excited Kevin Smith announced he was developing a TV show based on the 1980s cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, and it was revealed recently that he was partnering with Amazon Studios on the project. However, it seems there is some dispute over the rights with the film’s original writer and director, which has led to a lawsuit being filed by MGM, and Kevin Smith subsequently departing the project.

MGM has filed suit against Earl Mac Rauch and Walter Richter, the writer and director of the original movie, who claim they own the exclusive rights to develop a TV series. Rauch and Richter’s agent Mark Lichtman claimed in July they owned the rights to Buckaroo Banzai, which prompted MGM to file a cease and desist. In August, Rauch and Richter’s attorney Kenneth Keller said,
See full article at Flickeringmyth »

MGM Sues 'Buckaroo Banzai' Writer and Director Over Right to Make New TV Series

More than three decades after the cult sci-fi classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension was released in theaters, MGM wishes to produce a new television series of the characters with Kevin Smith at the helm and in conjunction with Amazon Studios. But first, MGM is taking a trip to the courtroom to sort out rights.

MGM has filed a complaint in California federal court against Earl Mac Rauch, who wrote the 1984 film about a neurosurgeon/rock star who saves Earth from malevolent aliens, and Walter Richter, who directed the picture that stars Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum...
See full article at The Hollywood Reporter - TV News »

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai at8d

The new branded line Shout Selects chooses Buckaroo for special-special edition treatment, with a long making-of docu just like the ones from the heyday of DVD. And this oddest of oddball sci-fi pictures has a backstory worth documenting. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Blu-ray Shout Select 1984 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date August 16, 2016 / 34.93 Starring: Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, Lewis Smith, Rosalind Cash, Robert Ito, Pepe Serna, Ronald Lacey, Matt Clark, Clancy Brown, Carl Lumbly, Vincent Schiavelli, Dan Hedaya, Bill Henderson, Damon Hines, Billy Vera Cinematography Fred J. Koenekamp Production Designer J. Michael Riva Art Direction Richard Carter, Stephen Dane Film Editor George Bowers, Richard Marks Original Music Michael Boddicker Written by Earl Mac Rauch Produced by Sidney Beckerman, Neil Canton, W.D. Richter Directed by W.D. Richter

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Not content with its already well appointed special Blu-ray editions,
See full article at Trailers from Hell »

Smith Seeks Wright, Tarantino For "Buckaroo"

One of the more exciting small screen announcements in the last month or so has been the news that filmmaker Kevin Smith is working on a TV series adaptation of MGM's 1984 cult classic sci-fi adventure "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension".

Smith scored the gig after his job directing an episode of The CW's "The Flash" series last year. Now he plans to continue the trend of getting high profile filmmakers guest directing random episodes of a TV series they're otherwise not involved in. Speaking with ComingSoon.net at Fantasia Fest, Smith revealed the names of a handful of directors that he hopes to recruit to helm episodes he's not involved in:

"I wanna get the people who loved it as much as me, so people like Richard Kelly, Edgar Wright, I'm gonna reach out to Quentin Tarantino, see if they'll direct an episode. 'Here's a chunk of change,
See full article at Dark Horizons »

Kevin Smith developing a Buckaroo Banzai TV series

Following his small screen exploits in Central City with last week’s episode of The Flash, Kevin Smith has announced on his podcast Hollywood Babble-On that he’s working on a new TV series based upon the 1984 cult film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Here’s Smith’s comments on the subject:

“Because I did the episode of The Flash, suddenly it’s signal light of, ‘oh he’ll do fucking television?’ Which is weird because I’ve been doing TV for five-six seasons – we’ve just been renewed for Comic Book Men – but that’s different because it’s not scripted. Now I’m being pulled into the scripted world. MGM said, ‘hey we hear you like Buckaroo Banzai‘. They heard that because of a fucking podcast I did in New York at the Lincoln Centre with Peter Weller and John Lithgow where we watched
See full article at Flickeringmyth »

Kevin Smith Plans "Buckaroo Bonzai" TV Series

Filmmaker Kevin Smith says his success directing last week's episode of The CW's "The Flash" has been such a success that it has opened up some "weird doors" all over Hollywood with three projects setup over the past week with one of them being MGM TV which produces FX's "Fargo" series.

Smith was invited to discuss the possibility of turning another film into a TV series, something much more genre and cult-based - the 1984 genre-defying sci-fi film "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension". Smith says he's "loved the movie forever" and speaking on a recent instalment of his Hollywood Babble-On podcast, he explained his idea for a TV series version:

"Basically you just do the entire movie for season one, then season two you finally do the sequel we've all dreamed about, Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League."

MGM liked what they heard as Smith says
See full article at Dark Horizons »

‘The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai’ Blu-ray Review

Stars: Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Goldblum, Ellen Barkin, Lewis Smith, Rosalind Cash, Robert Ito, Pepe Serna, Ronald Lacey, Matt Clark, Clancy Brown, William Traylor, Carl Lumbly, Vincent Schiavelli | Written by Earl Mac Rauch | Directed by W.D. Richter

Arrow Video know their cult movies, you just have to look at the ones they’ve released to see that. If you were to ask the question, how crazy can a cult movie be? I think you just have to look at their latest release for that. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is probably one of the strangest (yet still good) Eighties movies you’ll ever see.

When Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller), the brilliant physicist-neurosurgeon-martial arts master-secret-rock star manages to use the Oscillation Overthruster to travel to the 8th dimension he draws the attention of the Red Lectroids (an alien race obviously.) Working with Banzai’s
See full article at Blogomatic3000 »

Blu-ray Review – The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, 1984.

Directed by W.D. Richter.

Starring Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Lloyd, Lewis Smith, Rosalind Cash, Clancy Brown, Vincent Schiavelli, Carl Lumbly and Dan Hedaya.

Synopsis:

Adventurer/surgeon/rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his band of men, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, take on evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension.

The 80’s film Buckaroo Banzai (I’ll dispense with the full unwieldy title for convenience’s sake) has got a pretty strong case for being one of the last truly ‘cult’ movies. The film, conceived by old college roommates W.D. Richter and Earl Mac Rauch, was dreamed up with ideas of being a full on box office smash. Back in 1984, this never happened, with mainstream audiences not really ‘getting’ the non-conformist storyline and often downright weird segments of anarchic action comedy.

Pre-internet word of mouth about the film mostly centred on midnight screenings,
See full article at Flickeringmyth »

'New York, New York' 35th Anniversary: The Movie That Almost Destroyed Martin Scorsese

Nearly every one of the great directors who came of age in the 1970s -- including Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, Peter Bogdanovich, Michael Cimino -- had his own personal Waterloo. Within five to ten years of their breakouts, they'd each shot a massive flop, an epic where ambition and ego had outraced maturity and restraint. Coppola had "One from the Heart," Spielberg had "1941," Friedkin had "Sorcerer," Bogdanovich had "At Long Last Love," and Cimino (most infamously) had "Heaven's Gate." In Scorsese's case, the iceberg was his lavish musical "New York, New York" (released 35 years ago this week, on June 21, 1977). Its failure not only marred his career, it nearly killed him. The disaster may have begun with Scorsese's stylistic approach to the movie, a clash between incompatible filmmaking modes of the old Hollywood he admired and the new Hollywood he'd helped replace it with. It was
See full article at Moviefone »

Looking back at The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension

It’s quite possibly the weirdest sci-fi movie ever made, and features a great, eclectic cast. Jeff takes a look back at the classic Buckaroo Banzai…

It’s safe to say there are few movies out there like The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension, a film whose title alone announces its intention to diverge from the often prefabricated course of studio films (just as Banzai’s jetcar does in the film’s opening moments).

Based on the book by Earl Mac Rauch, and directed by Wd Richter, it’s clear that the early-to-mid 1980s were a good time for science fiction films to get made in the wake of the wild success of Star Wars and its ilk, which meant that some pretty weird and idiosyncratic ones trickled through as well (like some of Joe Dante’s work of the era).

Still, it’s a wonder the
See full article at Den of Geek »

Understanding Scorsese: A Martin Scorsese Profile (Part 2)

Trevor Hogg profiles the career of legendary American filmmaker Martin Scorsese in the second of a five-part feature... read part one here.

“It’s true that some films will involve me more than others,” admitted American filmmaker Martin Scorsese. “It’s also true that I might have never made Taxi Driver [1976] were it not for the success of Alice [Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, 1974]. The question of commercialism is a source of worry. Must one make a choice, must it be a matter of either setting your sights on winning an Academy Award and becoming a millionaire, or making only the movies you want to make and starving to death?” The $1.3 million production about a lonely New York City taxi driver (Robert De Niro), who has an unrequited romantic attachment with political campaign volunteer (Cybill Shepherd) and becomes a vengeful angel for a child prostitute (Jodie Foster), potently harnessed the sense of public disillusionment fueled
See full article at Flickeringmyth »
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