In January 2012, it was announced that a live-action film would be based on a popular board game developed by Columbia Pictures. The announcement that made waves online revealed that the film would star Adam Sandler and be directed by Kevin Lima, the director of Enchanted. The board game the movie was to be based on was Candy Land and the president of Columbia Pictures claimed it was more than just a board game.
However, things heated up quickly when Landmark entertainment filed a law suit to take action against Hasbro inc. According to resources, the reason for filing a lawsuit against the popular toy company was due to the fact that the Landmark Entertainment group had reportedly developed several features of the popular board game and that Hasbro does not possess the actual rights to license a movie based on the board game’s environment and characters. This lawsuit arrived as a hiccup to the production team, and is a threat to the film.
More about the Lawsuit
Resources also claim that though Candy Land has been prevailing since the 1940s, the board game had nothing more than two characters until 1984. It was only after 1984 that Landmark Entertainment made its entry and gave a complete makeover to the game. The company claims that it had played a crucial role in creating the storyline, artwork, and some of the most popular characters like the Princess Lolly, Lord Licorice and King Kandy. The resources further claim that the game was licensed to a company called Milton Bradley, which was later acquired by Hasbro. The company then lodged a complaint stating that Landmark’s rights were not meant to be used this way and that it was neither notified nor was an authorization obtained to create a film on the game.
As a response, Hasbro made claims that the works that that it owned were made-for-hire. Surprisingly, this claim comes at the time when Hasbro is already facing a lawsuit that revolves around the company’s concerns against rights on making a film based on another immensely popular board game – Dungeons and Dragons.
Landmark Entertainment is keen on seeking a judgment that it owns the Candy Land characters, the artwork, and further states that its license is limited only to toys and games and in no way or manner extends to the level of making a full length feature film, or developing video games on it. Also, the company is reportedly seeking an injunction against copyrights infringement. Overall, the popular game has proved that Candy Land is not a game for kids anymore!
To learn more, please visit Law 360.
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Additional source: The Hollywood Reporter