DID THE HIT-AND-RUN MAN STOP U.K. CINEMA RELEASE OF A JOHNNY DEPP MOVIE?

In the words of a fellow writer, who managed to get a piece or two published, “that is the question.” Not “to be, or not to be,” but did they or didn’t they?

   The Hit-and-Run Man was published originally in 1991. The e-book edition, now available on Amazon Kindle, is a revised version; the running order of a couple of chapters has been changed, which I felt enhanced dramatic effect, plus some characters and incidents have been fleshed out.

   Hollywood movie, Nick of Time, starring Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken and Courtney Chase, came to these shores in 1996. The movie first came to my attention through a brief preview in my local freesheet newspaper. The similarity between the described plot of the movie and the main plotline of The Hit-and-Run Man was staggering. Unfortunately, to go into detail would create spoilers for the book, and I like to think there are one or two things the reader does not see coming.

     So, can a connection between the book and the movie be established? Well, sometime after the book was published a business man friend of my brother, with literary connections both here and the States, took the book to America and made some presentations, though admittedly it was never published there.

   Around the same time I picked up on a U.S. agency, claiming to have Hollywood connections, asking for books to put forward for movie ideas. I made an initial enquiry, resulting in being asked to submit a detailed synopsis. Following this, I received a reply requesting a fee to progress. As it had always been drummed in to me that if agencies ask a fee to represent your work it is probably a scam, I continued no further.

   Possible legal action against a major Hollywood studio was never really a consideration due to the cost, but I thought there might be some publicity to be had, so issued some press releases. This was successful up to a point. It certainly hit the headlines locally, including Birmingham’s two well-circulated daily newspapers, but did not get picked up by the nationals. 

    Strangely, my publisher showed no enthusiasm to get involved, which didn’t help. I was interviewed on a local cable television station, but this was the early days of cable TV and I think this one was watched by one man and his dog – and that was in the evening. I went out live at around 11 o’clock in the morning! Still, I can claim to have been interviewed on television. Not every writer can claim that!

   Then events took an interesting turn. Feeling some responsibility as he had introduced the book stateside, the business man acquaintance asked me to put together a dossier of evidence with a promise he would take it to his lawyers over there. He told me if they thought it was a winnable case, he would tell them to proceed at no cost to me. The dossier I put together was impressive enough for the lawyers to feel I had a good case. Unfortunately, bearing in mind it would mean taking on in court the resources of a major Hollywood studio, the lawyers were unable to give my benefactor a strong enough guarantee of winning for him to justify the expense.

   Really good reviews from film critics who had seen previews meant no distribution problems in this country, yet the studio withdrew Nick of Time from a cinema release in this country, sending it straight to video. I remember Barry Norman on his weekly BBC film programme being at a loss as to why this had happened. Perhaps here I missed a trick. Sending him copies of the press stories might have got a mention for the book on national television. 

 The studio would have been aware of the publicity, as Birmingham’s two daily papers had approached them for comment. Not surprisingly, they had denied all knowledge of the book. In fairness, if the idea had been presented to them, they would not have been aware of any hidden sources.

   So, did The Hit-and-Run Man stop the U.K cinema release of a Johnny Depp movie? Admittedly the evidence is circumstantial, but none the less interesting for that. The truth, of course, will never be known. Nick of Time turns up on television occasionally, so there remains an opportunity to compare. Just remember, the book came first.

The Hit-and Run Man is published world-wide as an e-book by Amazon for download to a Kindle or other devices using Amazon’s free reading app.