Scouting Hollywood: March 7-13

A roundup of news, gossip and history of the entertainment business brought to you from Hollywood, Calif.

The original screenwriter of the hit 80’s film Road House has sued Amazon Studio’s MGM subsidiary claiming copyright infringement over a new version of the film. Author R. Lance Hill filed to recover his rights in the underlying screenplay, taking advantage of a provision in copyright law that allows authors to reclaim the rights to their works after waiting a period of time, typically 35 years. Amazon is accused of refusing to negotiate and then, during the pandemic, rushing to complete the remake to avoid the 35-year limit. The suit alleges the studio went as far as using AI to replicate actor voices who were not available. Such work is a violation of both the Actors and Directors Guild’s contracts.

In a follow up to last week’s column mentioning the opening for a head of production at Netflix, the streamer announced the hiring of producer Dan Lin to fill the role. Lin, who began as an executive assistant in the 1990’s, went on to produce the successful Lego movies as well as IT and Disney’s Aladdin. Lin starts his new gig in April and leaves behind a production company, Rideback, which will continue under the control of his partners. 

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as part of his agreement to join the board of TKO Group, the new holding company for WWE and UFC, has been given the rights to a slew of catchphrases from his WWE days including “The Rock,” “Rocky Maivia,” “Team Corporate,” “Rock Nation,” “The Nation,” “Roody Poo,” “Candy Ass,” “Jabroni,” “If you smell what The Rock is cooking,” “The Samoan Sensation,” “The Blue Chipper,” “The Brahma Bull,” “The People’s Champion,” “The Great One,” “Know Your Role and Shut Your Mouth,” “Team Bring It,” “The Rock Just Bring It,” “The People’s Elbow,” “Rock Bottom,” “Finally, The Rock has come back to…,” “It doesn’t matter what…,” “Blue Hell,” “The millions… (and millions),” “Rockpocalypse,” “Project Rock” and “The most electrifying man in sports and entertainment.” Oh, and he’s also been granted $30 million in TKO Group shares as well as continuing to receive a $500,000 annual royalty for use of his likeness. The agreement specifically excludes rights to any visual or audio from his days in the ring.