Tales From the Crypt is largely responsible for the institution of the Comics Code in the 1950s, an organization that introduced restrictive content measures that reshaped the entire comics industry. Even though the title is a legendary juggernaut in its own right, the property’s film and television rights have been mired in much controversy over the years. In fact, to most, it’s unclear who even owns the rights to the title and its associated intellectual property.
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In an appearance at Terror Con earlier this month, John Kassir—the voice behind the Cryptkeeper in the 1990s wildly-popular Tales From the Crypt series—helped break down the IP’s rights issues. Despite having some major names attached to that series behind camera, the film and TV rights themselves have reverted to EC Comics, the original publisher of Crypt tales.
“This was all working out great for us, but after you do 93 episodes and movies and all that stuff over a period of time, the rights lapse. Sadly, [EC Comics publisher] William Gaines passed away. He did amazing things, and we loved him. He would grant us the rights tomorrow. But the rights reverted to the family, who probably gave them to a lawyer, who probably doesn’t work in the industry,” Kassir said during a spotlight panel (via Bloody Disgusting).
That said, the producers behind the series own the rights of the particular version of the Cryptkeeper that appeared on the show. That means not only would future filmmakers have to get the rights to make a film or show from EC Comics, they’d also have to get the rights to the IP’s most popular character from a completely different set of rights holders.
“This happens in our business all the time with popular franchises from the past that people want to revive. It’s a hard thing to get done. It hasn’t happened in many years. Some people who were involved at the top don’t believe that it will ever happen, but who knows? Nobody would be happier than me,” Kassire added. “Because I’m both a fan and an actor — not that I ever got paid that much from Tales from the Crypt. It was an expensive show to produce. I don’t even know if they could afford to make that show nowadays. It took five puppeteers to make the Crypt Keeper work. They always complained about what they had to pay them, and I was like, ‘Dude, it’s the character! What do you want?’”
The latest attempt at a Tales From the Crypt series came from acclaimed horror mind M. Night Shyamalan, who had previously tried to develop a series with TNT. That iteration of the show died on the vine due to the complexity of the rights issues.
“The underlying rights to this classic, vintage property are complicated,” a representative for the network shared in 2017, per Deadline. “TNT and others have been pursuing a solution for more than a year, with significant progress being made. We look forward to the potential for further active development of this valuable franchise once the clearance process is fully resolved.”
