Star-Crossed Starr : Film Based on Comic to Open After 5 Years in Legal Limbo

As a comic strip heroine, “Brenda Starr” has seen more than her share of trouble over the years. But nothing compares with the calamity she encountered on the way to the silver screen.

Lawsuits and ownership changes have delayed the release of the live-action film starring Brooke Shields for nearly five years--enough time for roughly 1,825 installments of the comic strip about a glamorous red-headed reporter to run.

“Brenda Starr” was even linked to the BCCI banking scandal, only adding to the notion that the film was cursed.

Now “Brenda Starr” finally will be seen in the United States. The film goes into limited release Wednesday, with plans for taking it nationwide if audiences show anywhere near the enthusiasm of its backers.

Alana Lambros, whose AM-PM Productions in Los Angeles holds the rights to the $16-million film, says it’s “a miracle” the project made it out of the lawyers’ hands.

“There were more problems than anyone can comprehend,” Lambros said on Monday. “But if you’re a filmmaker, you’re a born optimist. And we always believed in this picture.”

“Brenda Starr” has attracted a lot of public attention--but mostly as a curiosity. Some Hollywood executives are skeptical of its chances of drawing an audience after spending five years on the shelf, especially since the movie lacks any of the traditional marketing tie-ins--and certainly the hoopla--that surrounded such comics-based films as “Dick Tracy” and “Batman.”

Indeed, Chicago-based Tribune Media Services--which owns the rights to the 52-year-old comic--has adopted a hands-off stance toward the film. Mike Silver, marketing director, doesn’t see the movie doing much to alter the makeup of the strip’s loyal following.

While the film version is set in the 1950s, the comic strip--still published in about 40 newspapers--currently is reaching out to young readers by addressing contemporary issues such as sexual harassment, Silver noted.

“We don’t expect the film to help the strip, and we don’t expect it to hurt it, either,” Silver said. “It’s just neutral. It’s rare that continuity strips will pick up new readers.”

The promotional blurb for “Brenda Starr” reads, “Off the comics (and) onto the big screen”--surely one of the great cinematic understatements of all time.

The movie’s legal travails were so great that many Hollywood insiders assumed it would never be seen outside of a few foreign territories such as Japan, Norway, Swaziland--and selected courtrooms.

Its survival says something about Hollywood tenacity, and even more about the movie industry’s continuing affinity for comic book characters. Filming on “Brenda Starr” began in 1986, before “Batman” and “Dick Tracy” ushered in the latest wave of comic mania.

At the time, Brooke Shields was still a hot commodity. Timothy Dalton, who was soon to be named the new James Bond, was cast as Brenda’s love interest, Basil St. John.

The film was supposed to be released in 1987. But the producers, Mystery Man Productions, ended up selling it to another independent film company, New World Productions, for an unknown amount.

New World announced a 1988 release for the film. But a contractual battle between the two companies ensued and, by September, 1988, “Brenda Starr” was locked up in court.

New World hoped to gain the release rights by 1989. In April of that year, however, the company was sold and its movie division put out to pasture. The rights to “Brenda Starr” were picked up by AM-PM Productions (which has no connection to the Atlantic Richfield-owned convenience stores).

The star-crossed film was in for even more problems.

When the BCCI banking scandal broke last year, it was revealed that “Brenda Starr” had been funded by a Saudi Arabian sheik with strong ties to the bank--a sheik who happened to be a fan of Shields’.

By then, “Brenda Starr” had gained a reputation as a film plagued by both legal and creative problems.

Yet its director, Robert Ellis Miller, insists the movie “holds up well.”

“It’s not stunt-filled like ‘Batman’ or ‘Dick Tracy,’ ” Miller said Monday. “It’s about a woman, for one thing . . . and it’s a lot more stylish and comic.”

AM-PM’s Lambros said a series of contractual complications have continued to delay “Brenda Starr” until now. The final clearances came April 1, and the filmmakers quickly slated an April 15 opening to try to capitalize on a relatively slow period for new film releases.

Triumph Releasing Corp., a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, is handling distribution. AM-PM is footing the bill for a noticeably low-key advertising campaign.

Lambros said her “gut feeling” tells her there’s an audience for “Brenda Starr,” which she calls “sweet, cute and adorable,” but she conceded there’s been no time for test screenings.

Like Brenda Starr has so often done in the comics, the filmmakers will have to rely on a little luck.

Then again, there’s always video.

A Starr Is Born--Finally The movie version of “Brenda Starr,” the comic strip about the adventures of a globe-trotting reporter, has wandered an ill-starred path for five years. But the film will hit theaters Wednesday.

July, 1986: “Brenda Starr” begins filming for a 1987 release.

May, 1987: Mystery Man Productions sells the film to New World Productions.

July, 1988: Tribune Media, which owns the comic, objects to the distribution deal.

September, 1988: The parties enter into a lawsuit.

April, 1989: New World is sold.

January, 1990: AM-PM Productions acquires “Brenda Starr” film.

June, 1991: Movie release date announced, then canceled.

September, 1991: BCCI bank scandal figures linked to “Brenda Starr” financing.

April, 1992: The 5-year-old film is finally scheduled to hit theaters.