Truth, justice and the American way are being pursued in a California courtroom, where valiant crusaders are attempting to thwart the June DVD release of Witless Protection, starring Larry the Cable Guy. Finally, a cause all right-thinking Americans can get behind.
Via the Hollywood Reporter comes the news that Universal Pictures has filed suit against Lionsgate, the perpetrators of Witless Protection, described in the complaint as “a box office flop as well as a critical failure.” That’s not a crime, unfortunately, or we could all file suit. Instead, Universal accuses Lionsgate of character theft. According to the lawsuit, Witless Protection lifted the character of “a short-tempered, humorless FBI agent named Alonzo Mosely” directly from Midnight Run, the 1988 buddy movie starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. You’ll recall Mosely as the character played by Yaphet Kotto, who must be seriously strapped for cash as he reprises the role in Witless.
Universal, which regards Midnight Run as “one of the jewels in its extensive film library” and dismisses Witless Protection as “inane,” seeks to “impound and dispose of all copies of the film, and it wants all profits, should any exist.” A dubious proposition, that, and although we’d have no qualms about wiping every copy of the movie off the face of the earth, the lawsuit may set a dangerous precedent. For instance, what are we supposed to do with our new script, Larry the Cable Guy Gets Torn Apart by Rabid Wolves?