1078 replies to this topic

[Mr. Somerset]

Anyone know where to obtain the Return Of The Saint dvds? Not available in the US, and I haven't seen the show in 20 years. Same with the Dutton films.

They have never been released in the US, but The Umbrella release (Australia) was in PAL, but region free. If you have a DVD player that will play PAL, it will work. Many DVD players will play PAL (I had a Toshiba, until it crapped out on me) ROTS also plays on the DVD player on my computer

http://www.umbrellae...cts/show/54/527

You might also find them on ebay

Thanks for the link! That boxset looks great I think I'll order it.

[jaguar007]

Production is supposed to start this month, yet still no official word on casting. I'm starting to get a little worried that this might go the way of all the other attempts to bring the Saint back on TV over the last decade.

Any updates Ian?

[Tybre]

Just because we haven't heard anything about the casting doesn't mean it hasn't been done. Honestly, a few weeks delay (they did say September after all, which could be anywhere from the first to the thirtieth) isn't enough to make me worried the project won't go anywhere. Now, if it's February or March and still no word, nothing at all, then I'll be worried. But yes, some word would be nice.

[Eurospy]

Greetings, CBners.

I have a quickie to ask to anyone who might know, a question tht's been bothering me ever since I heard the subject was raised by someone I know.

Who holds the [full?] ownership of The Saint. Do the people who hold the TV rights also hold movie, book and comic book rights?

I heard that the ownership of the character's rights was a bit messy, with a lot of people involved claiming ownership.

Can anyone in the know say wether this is true or false, please?

[Ian Dickerson]

Any updates Ian?

I've literally just gone through the latest draft of the script which has I'm told, already had input from our leading man and our distributor.

Currently they're finalising our leading man's contract and trying to persuade Sony to agree to our leading lady. It should be a matter of days before things can be officially confirmed... but I know I've said that before. However contractual leftovers from previous attempts have now been resolved so we should be making some good clean progress...

Ian

[Tybre]

I'm a bit curious, out of ten, how would you rate the latest draft?

[Ian Dickerson]

I'm a bit curious, out of ten, how would you rate the latest draft?

Probably a seven.

I have one major beef with it--easily resolved, just very annoying--and a few minor ones but if they get this right in production it could be a corker.

Ian

[danslittlefinger]

...so who is going to be the new Saint???

Umm, yes, I'm still wondering?

[Ian Dickerson]

Who holds the [full?] ownership of The Saint. Do the people who hold the TV rights also hold movie, book and comic book rights?

I heard that the ownership of the character's rights was a bit messy, with a lot of people involved claiming ownership.

Can anyone in the know say wether this is true or false, please?

Messy no. Complicated yes.

Character rights to the Saint are owned by The Estate of Leslie Charteris.

An option on the TV rights to the character has been taken by William J. MacDonald and Geoffrey Moore. Built in to this option is the ability to exploit their incarnation of the Saint in associated media such as comic books as well as the ability to use the Saint logo which is a registered trademark belonging to the Estate.

I won't go into further details about that particular deal for (hopefully) obvious reasons.

Rights to the original books remain in the ownership of the Estate though may be licenced out for something in the near future.

Movie rights aren't quite so complicated now as the one good thing that Robert Evans did is resolve that situation and since the failure of the Paramount film, movie rights have resorted to the Estate.

Comic book rights also remain with the Estate, unless you wanted to, for example, consider producing a Saint comic with the hero looking like young Roger Moore. Licensing of that would be a prospect that would turn the rest of my hair gray!

Ian

[jaguar007]

...so who is going to be the new Saint???

Umm, yes, I'm still wondering?

While not officially confirmed, one can almost guarantee it is Dougray Scott. Ian can contradict that if he so desires.

...Ian????

[Eurospy]

Who holds the [full?] ownership of The Saint. Do the people who hold the TV rights also hold movie, book and comic book rights?

I heard that the ownership of the character's rights was a bit messy, with a lot of people involved claiming ownership.

Can anyone in the know say wether this is true or false, please?

Messy no. Complicated yes.

Character rights to the Saint are owned by The Estate of Leslie Charteris.

An option on the TV rights to the character has been taken by William J. MacDonald and Geoffrey Moore. Built in to this option is the ability to exploit their incarnation of the Saint in associated media such as comic books as well as the ability to use the Saint logo which is a registered trademark belonging to the Estate.

I won't go into further details about that particular deal for (hopefully) obvious reasons.

Rights to the original books remain in the ownership of the Estate though may be licenced out for something in the near future.

Movie rights aren't quite so complicated now as the one good thing that Robert Evans did is resolve that situation and since the failure of the Paramount film, movie rights have resorted to the Estate.

Comic book rights also remain with the Estate, unless you wanted to, for example, consider producing a Saint comic with the hero looking like young Roger Moore. Licensing of that would be a prospect that would turn the rest of my hair gray!

Ian

Thank you very much, Ian.

Even moreso, when you're confirming that I was right.

Er, well, righter, so to speak. SHould have made a bet on the subject.

Cheers!


BTW - are the Knights Templar still involved? I think I'd have a bit more of an open mind to it by now I think.

Edited by Eurospy, 16 October 2009 - 08:53 AM.

[Bond Bombshell]

Currently they're finalising our leading man's contract and trying to persuade Sony to agree to our leading lady.

I fret when we haven't had any updates for a while so this news is very welcome. It's time for me to start obsessing about your leading lady and I was wondering if you could tell us any more about her. Will she be playing Patricia Holm? Earlier on in this thread you said the script had Patricia as coming from an exotic background while you were pushing for the character to be portrayed as originally envisaged. Can you tell us how this was resolved? Are you able to give us a rough idea about the age, nationality, level of fame of the actress, and whether she's married to Dougray Scott?

[danslittlefinger]

...so who is going to be the new Saint???

Umm, yes, I'm still wondering?

While not officially confirmed, one can almost guarantee it is Dougray Scott. Ian can contradict that if he so desires.

...Ian????

Yes I remember now. Dougray Stingray.
Still not blown away by that. Whatshisface from Spooks would have been better.

[jaguar007]

Yes, Scott seems to be a fairly "safe" generic choice (kind of like how Brosnan was for Bond). I wish Purefoy did not leave the project, it would have been interesting to see his take on the character (he has a little more edge).

[Safari Suit]

I don't really see how Scott is anything like Brosnan, for better or worse. It's not as if he had been suggested for the role for years (not that anyone has been!), unless I'm mistaken.

[jaguar007]

I don't really see how Scott is anything like Brosnan, for better or worse. It's not as if he had been suggested for the role for years (not that anyone has been!), unless I'm mistaken.

My comparison to Brosnan is that Scott is someone who kind of fits the stereotype of the TV Saint (charming, well dressed, British etc) but I don't see him bringing gravitas or something new or interesting to the role. Hopefully I am proved wrong.

[Tybre]

Yes, Scott seems to be a fairly "safe" generic choice (kind of like how Brosnan was for Bond). I wish Purefoy did not leave the project, it would have been interesting to see his take on the character (he has a little more edge).

I hope he's a Brosnan, just with the ability to make me believe he is the role he's playing. Safe choice reinvigorates popular interest? I'm down with that. Oh sure, I doubt the Saint is going to become mega-popular, but if the series does well enough, catches on, it might drum up enough attention for more series later down the road or some films.

[jaguar007]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against Scott being cast. I would much prefer a stereotypical TV Saint than someone very off the mark like Andrew Clarke or Val Kilmer.

I can easily see Scott as The Saint, fitting in like with the likes of Moore, Ogilvy and Dutton. I just think Purefoy would have been more interesting and a little more weighty.

[Tybre]

Fair enough. Personally I haven't seen Scott in anything (excluding clips hunted down when he was mentioned) and only seen Purefoy in A Knight's Tale, so really I'm not very apt to judge who's better than who for what.

[Ian Dickerson]

...so who is going to be the new Saint???

Umm, yes, I'm still wondering?

While not officially confirmed, one can almost guarantee it is Dougray Scott. Ian can contradict that if he so desires.

...Ian????

I probably ought to contradict you but since there's still contracts to be sorted I won't.

Ian

[TheSaint]

I probably ought to contradict you but since there's still contracts to be sorted I won't.

Ian

Wait-you mean, it might not be Scott? This is giving me a headache.

[danslittlefinger]

I probably ought to contradict you but since there's still contracts to be sorted I won't.

Ian

Wait-you mean, it might not be Scott? This is giving me a headache.

Not the only one.

[jaguar007]

I probably ought to contradict you but since there's still contracts to be sorted I won't.

Ian

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

[danslittlefinger]

I probably ought to contradict you but since there's still contracts to be sorted I won't.

Ian

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

A-ha!

[Ian Dickerson]

Yes, Scott seems to be a fairly "safe" generic choice (kind of like how Brosnan was for Bond). I wish Purefoy did not leave the project, it would have been interesting to see his take on the character (he has a little more edge).

I know The Philanthropist probably didn't show him at his best but it was the most of his work I've ever seen and having seen that I am so absolutely glad that Purefoy is no longer associated with the Saint. Purefoy has more edge?

He's completely and utterly wooden. Can't show any emotion. Flat. And certainly doesn't have a sense of mischief about him.

Ian

[danslittlefinger]

Yes, Scott seems to be a fairly "safe" generic choice (kind of like how Brosnan was for Bond). I wish Purefoy did not leave the project, it would have been interesting to see his take on the character (he has a little more edge).

I know The Philanthropist probably didn't show him at his best but it was the most of his work I've ever seen and having seen that I am so absolutely glad that Purefoy is no longer associated with the Saint. Purefoy has more edge?

He's completely and utterly wooden. Can't show any emotion. Flat. And certainly doesn't have a sense of mischief about him.

Ian

Love to know how Dougray is a more viable "star" than Penry-Jones from Spooks (MI5). That series was shown in the US and went down well.
How does the the US market know Dougray?

[jaguar007]

Yes, Scott seems to be a fairly "safe" generic choice (kind of like how Brosnan was for Bond). I wish Purefoy did not leave the project, it would have been interesting to see his take on the character (he has a little more edge).

I know The Philanthropist probably didn't show him at his best but it was the most of his work I've ever seen and having seen that I am so absolutely glad that Purefoy is no longer associated with the Saint. Purefoy has more edge?

He's completely and utterly wooden. Can't show any emotion. Flat. And certainly doesn't have a sense of mischief about him.

Ian

I did not watch the series, but I did catch a few scenes of Rome here and there and he did seem pretty good in that.

[Tybre]

Yes, Scott seems to be a fairly "safe" generic choice (kind of like how Brosnan was for Bond). I wish Purefoy did not leave the project, it would have been interesting to see his take on the character (he has a little more edge).

I know The Philanthropist probably didn't show him at his best but it was the most of his work I've ever seen and having seen that I am so absolutely glad that Purefoy is no longer associated with the Saint. Purefoy has more edge?

He's completely and utterly wooden. Can't show any emotion. Flat. And certainly doesn't have a sense of mischief about him.

Ian

Love to know how Dougray is a more viable "star" than Penry-Jones from Spooks (MI5). That series was shown in the US and went down well.
How does the the US market know Dougray?

Mission Impossible II
Arabian Nights
Dark Water
Desperate Housewives
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Hitman
Enigma
Ever After
Deep Impact

Only things I can find in his filmography which Americans are very likely to have seen and know him from. I mean obviously he's not a big name over here, but he's not invisible.

[danslittlefinger]

Yes, Scott seems to be a fairly "safe" generic choice (kind of like how Brosnan was for Bond). I wish Purefoy did not leave the project, it would have been interesting to see his take on the character (he has a little more edge).

I know The Philanthropist probably didn't show him at his best but it was the most of his work I've ever seen and having seen that I am so absolutely glad that Purefoy is no longer associated with the Saint. Purefoy has more edge?

He's completely and utterly wooden. Can't show any emotion. Flat. And certainly doesn't have a sense of mischief about him.

Ian

Love to know how Dougray is a more viable "star" than Penry-Jones from Spooks (MI5). That series was shown in the US and went down well.
How does the the US market know Dougray?

Mission Impossible II
Arabian Nights
Dark Water
Desperate Housewives
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Hitman
Enigma
Ever After
Deep Impact

Only things I can find in his filmography which Americans are very likely to have seen and know him from. I mean obviously he's not a big name over here, but he's not invisible.

Strange that I dont remember him from any of those that I did see on that list.

[Tybre]

Some, like Deep Impact, may have been fairly minor roles, but he was on the Wikipedia cast list, which more often than not means at the very least it wasn't a bit part. Jekyll & Hyde is probably where he had his largest role on that list. Probably. Haven't seen a thing on there, I haven't. Maybe MI2 was larger. Not sure.