BUCKAROO BANZAI: MGM Pursues Legal Action Over Right To Make TV Series [Amazon]

MGM Sues The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Creators Over TV Rights

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension director Walter Richter and screenwriter Earl Mac Rauch are being sued by MGM over who owns the rights to adapt the film for TV.

Some thirty years after the 1984 debut of the original film, the studio has joined forces with Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith and Amazon Studios to produce a long-awaited follow-up on the small screen. Due to the passing around of rights pertaining to the movie however, it has become unclear who exactly has the power to make additions to the property, resulting in MGM attempting to reassert its control over the franchise:

Rauch and Richter “have now asserted in multiple letters to Plaintiffs that they, not Plaintiffs, supposedly own the exclusive right to produce and distribute a Buckaroo Banzai television series,” states MGM’s lawsuit. “There is now a substantial controversy between the parties with great immediacy. MGM seeks to develop its new television series without Defendants’ interference. Accordingly, Plaintiffs bring this action to seek a declaration of the rights and legal relations of the parties with regard to Buckaroo Banzai.”

The 1984 film left off with a tease in the form of a message where audiences were told, “Watch for the next adventure of Buckaroo Banzi — Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League.”

Leave your thoughts on MGM suing Walter Richter and Earl Mac Rauch over the rights to make a Buckaroo Banzai TV series (via Thehollywoodreporter) in the comments section below. Readers seeking more TV show news can visit our TV Show News Google+ Page and our TV Show News Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Facebook. The Buckaroo Banzai TV series is set to stream on Amazon at some point in the near future.