FOLLOW THE BOYS

Last week, we reported the struggle to get a film out of Randall Sullivan’s Esquire article on “The Billionaire Boys Club” (he’s doing a book now too), the true tale about a small Beverly Hills brat pack that gets involved in murder and swindle.

There seems to be some debate over who has certain rights and who doesn’t--and here’s a taste:

Sullivan: “Paramount made an offer to my agent on behalf of Hill-Obst (producers Debra and Lynda, respectively) last July. It was less than half of what we wanted. Obst had acted as if we owed her the rights. In April and May, she told actors and directors in New York and Los Angeles that her company had the rights. They wanted to buy the magazine article and get the book for free, but with built-in incentives. We turned Obst down because it wasn’t enough money and I didn’t want to give away my book. My attorney sent Paramount a letter Sept. 25 saying if Obst-Hill are proceeding with the project, then they are infringing with my copyrights. Adam Field (Sullivan’s brother-in-law) doesn’t own the rights. I gave him permission to see what kind of deal he could make. I hope Adam will be the producer. If I get a better offer from someone who doesn’t want Adam involved in the film, he won’t be.”

Obst: “At one time we made an offer to Randall to buy the rights to his story and he did not consider the offer high enough and we withdrew our offer. There is nothing else to say. We never indicated to any actors or directors that we owned any rights. We considered the rights situation too complicated to sort out, so we consequently passed. A tempest in a teapot.”

Producer Field refused comment on Sullivan’s allegations.

Meanwhile, Sue Horton and Greg Critser said that their article, “Deadly Pied Piper of Beverly Hills,” which ran in the May issue of Los Angeles magazine, and Horton’s book, “Billionaire Boys Club,” which she’s now writing for St. Martin’s Press, were optioned by ITC Productions last May for a feature film or a TV miniseries.