When we last heard about the legal battle between the trust of science fiction author Philip K. Dick and the director and producers of ‘Adjustment Bureau’ (starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt), the case had been dropped due to a technicality. When that happened, I predicted that it wouldn’t be the last we heard of this dirty ongoing battle.
Late yesterday, Deadline reported that, even though the original case hasn’t been picked back up (yet), the trustees of Dick’s estate have filed a civil suit against the ‘Adjustment Bureau’s producers claiming that the estate is still owed more than $500,000 in back-payments from the film. It seems that, in addition to the $1.4 million that the estate did get from director George Nolfi and the film’s producers, they claim that they are still owed further fees and other damages.
To make matters worse, the producers are fighting back. According to reports, they have “demanded the return” of that $1.4 million that they already paid to Dick’s estate. So, if Dick’s estate loses out of this new round of legal combat, they may not only lose out on getting new monies… but they may have to return the cash that was already given to them.
All of this legal turmoil stems from a single dispute over whether or not Dick’s original story (titled ‘Adjustment Team’), on which the film was based, was in public domain at the time of the filming. The film’s producers assert that it was, but Dick’s estate says that it wasn’t due to an error in publication dates.
Even if the film’s producers win this one, I’m calling it again that this one isn’t over by a long shot… and I didn’t even need one of those ‘Minority Report’ psychics to tell me that!
