successful franchise, like the Indiana Jones series, but Disney halted plans. In addition, executive producers Art Linson and Floyd Mutrux sued Beatty shortly after the release of the film, alleging that they were owed profit participation from the film. Beatty purchased the Dick Tracy film and television rights in 1985 from Tribune Media Services. He then took the property to Walt Disney Studios, who optioned the rights in 1988. According to Beatty, in 2002, Tribune attempted to reclaim the rights and notified Disney—but not through the process outlined in the 1985 agreement. Beatty, who commented he had "a very good idea" for a sequel, believed Tribune violated various notification procedures that "clouded the title" to the rights and made it "commercially impossible" for him to produce a sequel. He approached Tribune in 2004 to settle the situation, but the company said they had met the conditions to get back the rights. Disney, which had no intention of producing a sequel, rejected Tribune's claim, and gave Beatty back most of the rights in May 2005. That same month, Beatty filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles, California Superior Court seeking $30 million in damages against Tribune and a declaration over the rights. Bertram Fields, Beatty's lawyer, said the original 1985 agreement with Tribune was negotiated specifically to allow Beatty a chance to make another Dick Tracy film. "It was very carefully done, and they just ignored it," he stated. "Tribune is a big, powerful company, and they think they can just run roughshod over people. They picked the wrong guy." Tribune believed the situation would be settled quickly, and was confident enough to begin developing a Dick Tracy live-action television series with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Robert Newmyer, and Outlaw Productions. The TV show was to have a contemporary setting, comparable to Smallville, and Di Bonaventura commented that if the TV show was successful, a feature film would likely follow. However, an August 2005 ruling by federal judge Dean D. Pregerson cleared the way for Beatty to sue Tribune. The April 2006 hearing ended without a ruling, but in July 2006, a Los Angeles judge ruled that the case could go to trial; Tribune's request to end the suit in their favor was rejected. The legal battle between Beatty and Tribune continued. By March 2009, Tribune was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and lawyers for the company began to declare their ownership of