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Troubled Waters: ‘The Crow’ Lawsuit, ‘Dark Tower’ Safe – For Now

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In what could easily be a record breaking news day, we’ve got a few news briefs that we’re gonna jam into this one piece.

Dark Tower is staying at Universal. At least for now, writes THR. The massive Universal-Imagine-NBC adaptation of Stephen King’s mystical Western opus hit snags last week with some reports claiming that project was in turnaround. The project did hit budgetary snags and the fall start date was shelved. But Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Akiva Goldsman have regrouped to try to bring the budget down. Insiders say the end result is that Goldsman is now rewriting the script to reflect a lower price point. No start date has been given although it will certainly not be the fall. What that does to the involvement of Javier Bardem, who was attached to star in the first movie and the first TV arc, is unclear. Dark Tower is to be a film trilogy with a TV component in between the movies. Howard has committed to direct the movie and the first episode of the show, with Goldsman writing all three movies.

In other troublesome news, Relativity is just getting warmed up to battle the Weinstein Company over the rights to The Crow reboot to be directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and star Bradley Cooper. Variety reports that Relativity has accused the Weinstein Co. of intentionally masking its financial problems in order to induce Relativity to finance the TWC tuner Nine. Relativity made the claim in a response filed Thursday in to the lawsuit TWC filed against Relativity over rights to remake of The Crow.

Plenty more on this inside.
Relativity’s response, which seeks more than $20 million, stems from TWC’s injunction filed last month in which the company sought to halt Relativity from selling distribution rights to anyone but TWC.

But Relativity has its own grievances – claiming that TWC’s “mishandling” of the co-financed B.O. disappointment “Nine” two years ago is reason enough to shop “The Crow” elsewhere.

In the filing, Relativity claims “TWC’s unilateral, ill-founded decision regarding the film’s release directly resulted in the movie ‘Nine’ being a commercial disaster. Based on the information available to it, Relativity does not believe that TWC has the ability to meet ($70 million in P&A) obligations … and Relativity is under no obligation to allow TWC to ruin let another movie.”

TWC attorney Bert Fields called Relativity’s response “complete hogwash.”

If Mr. Kavanaugh had a claim on ‘Nine,’ he would have raised it at the time of ‘Nine,’” Fields told Variety. “If Mr. Kavanaugh hasn’t been living in a tree, he knows that the Weinsteins have completely restructured their company and have all the money they need and will get even more from ‘The King’s Speech … this is a thin excuse for violating his contract and repudiating ‘The Crow.’

Relativity’s response also includes a motion to move the dispute over “The Crow” into arbitration, not litigation as Fields has requested through the injunction. Relativity cites a clause in their March 2009 agreement that calls for any disputes to be settled through “confidential arbitration proceedings.”

Law firms Weiss & Hunt, LLP and K&L Gates, LLP filed the response for Relativity, which include claims of breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, repudiation, and unfair business practices.

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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Don Mancini in the “Early Stages” of Working On a New “Chucky” Movie!

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Chucky death

Everyone’s favorite killer doll is headed back to the small screen with “Chucky” Season 3: Part 2 on April 10, but are any further movies being planned at this time?

Created by Don Mancini, the “Chucky” television series remarkably plays around with existing elements from all previous films without disregarding ANYTHING from the past. From the original Child’s Play to sequels including Child’s Play 2, Bride of Chucky and even Seed of Chucky, it’s all one cohesive timeline that Mancini remains deeply committed to.

Of course, the most recent film in the Child’s Play franchise was the 2019 remake, to date the only movie in the saga that’s NOT part of Mancini’s vision. Is Mancini’s original incarnation going to spend his final days on TV, while another Chucky will be featured in the movies? It’s a question we’ve been asking ourselves for the last few years, and we may now have an answer.

Speaking with the Scream Dreams Podcast this week, Mancini revealed that he’s in the early stages of development on a potential new installment in the original Chucky film franchise!

new Chucky movie

CHUCKY — “Jennifer’s Body” Episode 303 — Pictured in this screengrab: Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY)

“Like anyone in this business, I want to do more things. At this point though if it’s only Chucky I’m totally cool with that,” Mancini explains. “I have other things I want to do. I’m working on a new pilot. I’m also, actually, in the early stages of working on a new Chucky movie.”

Mancini adds, “At this point, my goal is just to keep working.”

Outside of the aforementioned Child’s Play remake, there are to date seven installments in the franchise, with Cult of Chucky (2017) being the original franchise’s most recent film.

For now, Chucky remains a small screen icon. Don’t miss the premiere of Season 3: Part 2 on both USA and SYFY on April 10, with new episodes hitting Peacock the day after they air.

You can watch Don Mancini’s full chat with Scream Dreams below.

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