Hollywood’s Battle Over Film Rights for “To Kill A Mockingbird” Sequel

News of a sequel to Harper Lee’s widely acclaimed novel To Kill a Mockingbird only broke last week but a battle over the film rights to Go Set a Watchman could already be underway.

Universal holds the rights to the 1962 classic To Kill a Mockingbird which earned eight Academy Award nominations with three wins including Best Actor for star Gregory Peck. The book and film are also financial successes: Mockingbird has sold 30 million copies and the film adaptation earned $13.1 million at the box office which is $102 million in current dollars when adjusted for inflation.

The current dilemma has to do with characters from To Kill a Mockingbird, primarily Atticus Finch and Scout. It is unclear if Universal would hold any claim to the rights due to the reappearance of these characters. If not ,the rights could go for millions due to the well established exposure and Mockingbird’s popularity as a book and feature film.

Go Set a Watchman was actually first written in the 1950s but Harper Lee’s editor rejected the book and suggested that she turn the flashback scenes involving Scout and her father Atticus in to a full novel itself. The result was To Kill a Mockingbird and Lee’s only published novel.

Go Set a Watchman is set for a publication date of July 15, 2015 by HarperCollins in the US and William Heinemann in the UK.