Media Rights Capital and the Philip K. Dick Estate have resolved their claims against each other over proceeds from “The Adjustment Bureau.”
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed in a statement issued Tuesday, other than the disclosure that the settlement includes the opportunity to work together on future Philip K. Dick Estate properties.
“The Estate is pleased to continue our relationship with MRC,” said Laura Leslie, Dick’s daughter and trustee for the estate. “MRC’s talent-friendly executives and proven track record of producing high-quality entertainment across multiple platforms make them an ideal partner for us.”
“The Adjustment Bureau,” starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, opened in March 2011 and grossed $128 million worldwide following its release by Universal.
The estate sued MRC, director George Nolfi and producer Michael Hackett in the fall of 2011 in federal court over a share of the returns from “The Adjustment Bureau,” based on Dick’s short story, but dropped the action four months later after a judge dismisssed many of the claims due to lack of jurisdiction.
The estate then sued in April 2012 in state court, alleging the defendants had reneged on an agreement for a share of the returns from “The Adjustment Bureau” by claiming Dick’s short, “The Adjustment Team,” was in the public domain.
The story first appeared in a magazine in 1954, which would mean the copyright had expired. But the estate asserted that Dick never authorized the publication and said that the copyright for “The Adjustment Team” was secured in 1973, when it was published in a collection called “The Book of Philip K. Dick,” and remained in effect. Dick died in 1982.
Other notable movies based Dick stories include “Blade Runner,” “Total Recall” and “Minority Report.”
