After the Monday evening announcement that Star Partners and Hummingbird Productions were teaming together to create an IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE sequel, Paramount have stepped forward with a counter case.
Social media outlets blew up after the news was published that Frank Capra’s classic Christmas tale was to be brought into modern times, but Paramount, who hold the rights to the original, have said that they are taking ‘appropriate steps’ to hold onto them. A spokesperson has said:
“No project relating to IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE can proceed without a license from Paramount. To date, these individuals have not obtained any of the necessary rights, and we would take all appropriate steps to protect those rights.”
Well well well, seems Star Partners and Hummingbird were a little quick off the mark. However, Bob Farnsworth, co-writer of the sequel’s screenplay, has stepped forward to say that the rights to the story are already in the public domain, giving freedom for a sequel to be produced. He added:
“IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is about showing a good guy can win. And with Scrooge, you have a person that is not a good guy but he changes.”
Was that a slight dig at Paramount?
As always we’ll keep you updated on the latest news that surfaces surrounding the project.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
