It appears that plans for a rebooted Friday Night Lights television series may have hit a snag.
In the Tuesday edition of his “What I’m Hearing” newsletter, Puck News’ Matthew Belloni revealed that Universal has received a copyright termination notice from author Buzz Bissinger, who is seeking to reclaim the rights to his eponymous nonfiction novel.
Universal Studios first picked up the rights to “Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream” shortly after its initial publication in 1990. Development on a film adaptation of the book hit several snags before “Friday Night Lights” — starring Billy Bob Thorton — was ultimately released in 2004.
The movie proved to be both a critical and commercial success. In addition to being named one of the American Film Institute’ top 10 films of 2004, it earned an 82 percent “Certified Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes while netting nearly $63 million at the box office against a $30 million budget.
Following the film’s success, director Peter Berg developed a television series based on the IP, which initially aired on NBC before finishing its five-season run on The 101 Network. Despite is own ups and downs, the TV series developed a cult following over the years while featuring stars such as Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Minka Kelly, Jesse Plemons and Michael B. Jordan.
This past November — 13 years after the final episode aired — news broke that the series was heading for a reboot. And while the nature of Bissinger’s claim has yet to be made public, it seems like it’s a safe bet that it’s connected to the project, which has already been announced for Peacock.
Bissinger’s legal maneuvering, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the Friday Night Lights reboot has hit a road block. In fact, Belloni noted that the attorney working on the author’s behalf, Marc Toberoff, has a history of “using the Copyright Act to wrest away domestic rights to popular franchises, often selling them back to the studio for millions of dollars — with himself attached as a producer, of course.”
To Belloni’s point, Toberoff’s IMDB profile includes producing credits on projects such as “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” and “Predator: Killer of Killers,” two franchises he was previously involved in litigation with. Time will tell whether the Friday Night Lights saga plays out differently as the franchise’s fans anxiously await a return to West Texas.
Regardless of how all of this plays out, just remember: Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.