Hello fellow fans of Charlie Chan!

I am an experienced film producer. I became interested in CC two years ago and since then I have hunted down all Chan related material that I could find!

However initial research has indicated to me that CC novels are in the Public Domain in all territories except the USA. So a new CC film based on the novelscan be shown in all territories but not the USA?

Any fellow fans out there have any suggestions on how to overcome this problem?

Cheers

Dear Mr. Lee,

An interesting question...

Permission to base a film on Charlie Chan would be possible if a go-ahead were granted by the current holder of of the rights to the character, which is, at his time, an entity called Leisure Concepts, I believe. While the original Chan stories may, as you note, be in the public domain in other parts of the world (we have a link to an Australian source to the stories online here at this humble website), that not, perhaps, so with the film rights.

Sincerely,
Rush Glick

Wouldn't you love to cast that one?! I know I would.

I got my hopes up that one of the lost films had been re-discovered. Bummer.

I still hold out hope that copies are languishing in someone's garage.

Wish I could help with your question but I have no expertise in this area.

Good luck with your project. It is a most worthy undertaking.