Conan Goes To Court

It looks like Conan The Barbarian is back in the court of law to seek out justice and fair distribution of bounty! We get the scoop from none other than the caves of Yahoo:

Beverly Hills-based Conan Properties Int’l, the creator and owner of the underlying rights to the “Conan the Barbarian” films, is suing several parties, including Lionsgate, Edward R. Pressman Productions, Modern Times Group, and others, seeking a piece of net profits from the films. The lawsuit comes as indie film company Nu Image plans to begin production on a remake of “Conan the Barbarian,” which Lionsgate will distribute next year. The film series, based on the 1930s pulp novels by Robert E. Howard, was conceived in 1977; at the time, Conan Properties licensed rights to Hollywood producer Pressman in return for five percent of all net profits from the film and its sequel.

Five years later, when the film finally came out, Pressman’s firm sublicensed the film, kicking off a series of handoffs. Conan Properties sued Pressman in 1983 and that matter was settled. But according to this complaint, the chain of custody, which assigned rights to the film from Pressman to Paradise Films to December Associates to Modern Entertainment and finally to Lionsgate, left Conan Properties forgotten. The defendants have breached the original Pressman agreement and 1983 settlement, the complaint alleges, by “failing to remit to (Conan Properties) 5% of 100% of all net profits derived from the exploitation of the first film…and any sequel…based upon the Property, including but not limited to domostic and international distribution on DVD.”

Well, it looks like we may have to wait a bit longer for a new Conan film to be made. It appears that when rights trade hands, more often than naught lawsuits abound. somebody gets left out of some part of the pie and the lawyers are called stat. This problem has lingered on for years and I am certain digging up and trudging through years of history will be a tricky and daunting task 1833 – now is longer than some of our readers have been alive.

I am not sure if they are able to continue on with the project with a lawsuit pending; or if they would even want to. You certainly don’t want people trying to fight over money on a movie that you are about to release. I yearn for more Conan movies and it seems like they are damned to a life in purgatory. One thing or another always seems to halt production. We hear a new Conan is going to be made, a problem occurs followed by a year or two of silence and then a new round of Conan rumblings begin.

We will keep you updated on this news and with hope, it will not change plans for a new Conan production.