Writing a Script Based on Already Produced Material

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cdc792000

Member
I have a question regarding writing something based on already produced material. (Mostly for film and stage) For example, if someone were to write a Indiana Jones screenplay or a Star Trek screenplay. How do they go ahead with it? Do they first need permission? Can they write it and then see if it gets to the studio or director?

I am also curious about the new Spiderman show playing on Broadway. Did the book writer have to first acquire the rights? What if someone were to write a play based on Blondie or Dick Tracy or The Shadow? Can they just write it and then shop it around? I've always been curious on how these writers are allowed to do this. I know some of them are approached by whoever owns the rights.

I see a lot of novels based on Star Wars and Star Trek and Fringe and X-Files and such.

I have an idea for a story and am just curious if I should write it as an exercise or for fun or if I should actually consider taking the proper channels to see if I can sell it.
 
You can go ahead and write whatever you want as an exercise, but unfortunately you won't be able to do anything with it but sit and admire it UNLESS you have obtained permission from the copyright owner. You can bet your sweet bippy (sorry, showing my age here) that the authors/publishers of the Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. novels, creators of Broadway shows, and so forth, have received such permission to use the characters, names, plot histories, etc. (and the rights holders of those original works have been paid and/or are receiving royalties). Count on pretty much anything created since the early part of the 20th century to still be under copyright.
 
cdc792000 said:
I have a question regarding writing something based on already produced material. (Mostly for film and stage) For example, if someone were to write a Indiana Jones screenplay or a Star Trek screenplay. How do they go ahead with it? Do they first need permission? Can they write it and then see if it gets to the studio or director?
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Forget doing anything with any familiar work that you mentioned...

However, here is a site that lists some number of 'public domain' comic super heros, whose copyright holders apparently have not seen fit to reregister them as was provided for in the most recent US copyright law.

There may be a character, characters, or story lines that you could use for your own purposes.

http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Public_Domain_Super_Heroes
The one proviso is, since this is an online source, and they are not 'lawyers', you may have to at least consult with a lawyer to determine the exact PD status... and take out errors and omissions insurance...
 
Campion Elderado said:
Considering how awful the last "Indiana Jones" movie was, Spielberg and Lucas might want to start looking to fan fiction for ideas...
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Gee...ya think?

Ok, sure, it only grossed a little over $.75B, got a 77% on the Tomatometer...and...well...*I* thought it was pretty enjoyable...

But, yeah I guess you're right. They really oughta hire some YouTube dude to make the next one... : )
 
Ted Spencer said:
Gee...ya think?

Ok, sure, it only grossed a little over $.75B, got a 77% on the Tomatometer...and...well...*I* thought it was pretty enjoyable...

But, yeah I guess you're right. They really oughta hire some YouTube dude to make the next one... : )
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If I didn't think about it too much... it was enjoyable...

Heck, in IJ II, we had: getting out of a dying aircraft by means of an inflatable raft serving as 1) parachute 2) snow sled, and finally 3) a water based floatation device... who would ah thunk it...

So, climbing in to a refrigerator when a nuclear blast is coming your way... (The Wife was just asking me about what kind of 'protection' that would provide... my response... about as much as going to the priest in confession, having spent a night of unprotected sex in a bathhouse...)... not to mention space alien encounters of the amazonian kind, etc.. were not the things that I found lacking in the film...

It was in fact, reintroducing Marian, because the sizzle seemed to fizzle... and Shia the Beef, is no Brando, even hokie Brando of the "Wild One"(1953)...
 
Campion Elderado said:
Considering how awful the last "Indiana Jones" movie was, Spielberg and Lucas might want to start looking to fan fiction for ideas...
Click to expand...

Actually, I thought that Crystal Skull was entirely in keeping with the spirit of the series. It was never intended as serious, realistic adventure, but as a fun, exciting homage to movie serials of the 1930s. The most recent installment, taking place in the 1950s, had a plot exactly like what you would expect if the movie serials had continued into that age.
 
I agree with the sentiments that Crystal Skull was not very good, but fan fiction is easily worse. Like Star Wars fan film (Revelations) that apparently a writer with no taste compared favorably to the prequals. As bad as the prequals were/are, they are high art compared to that film.
 
KMR said:
Actually, I thought that Crystal Skull was entirely in keeping with the spirit of the series. It was never intended as serious, realistic adventure, but as a fun, exciting homage to movie serials of the 1930s. The most recent installment, taking place in the 1950s, had a plot exactly like what you would expect if the movie serials had continued into that age.
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Why harken to the by gone days of the 1950's... Here's a more recent installment of a 'quality film' of the 'withoutredeemingsocialvalue' genre...



 
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