A new ‘Jessica Rabbit’ movie is reportedly in the works: What we know so far

Gary K. Wolf, who is the creator of Roger Rabbit, finally regained all the rights to the character and the franchise. He spoke about this in a recent interview on the I’m Not Bad podcast and shared that now he has the entire creative freedom to work on any new project that he wants to.

One of the first projects that he wants to work on and that which has already progressed the most is a live-action film on Jessica Rabbit. 

Gary said that the first potential project that he set his heart on after he received his rights back from Disney was developing the Jessica Rabbit book called Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS business into a live-action movie.

One of the only reasons why Gary was able to get his rights back was because of the 35-year Copyright Reversion Clause and the US Copyright Act of 1976. His 1981 novel, called Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which became a super hit quickly, was re-envisioned by Disney and turned into the 1988 movie called Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which also ended up winning four Academy Awards.

Details explored on Gary K. Wolf, the creator of Roger Rabbit, working on a new live-action Jessica Rabbit film

In a recent podcast episode of I’m Not Bad, Gary K. Wolf shared the good news of regaining all his rights to Roger Rabbit back from Disney. He shared how, with the help of his attorney, they utilized the 35-year Copyright Reversion Clause, which allowed artists, singers, and songwriters to get the rights back to their creations after a period of 35 years.

Gary shared that this was only made possible due to the US Copyright Act of 1976, and he was able to terminate all his copyright licences and assignments which had been granted post January 1, 1978. 

Gary shared that one of the first projects that he is excited about working on is a live-action movie on Jessica Rabbit, which is already underway. He said that he has been working on turning his book Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS business, which was published on May 4, 2022, into a film adaptation.

He said:

“The one that is most prominent is a live-action Jessica Rabbit movie based on the book Jessica Rabbit: XERIOUS Business. That was the first project that we took a look at and the first we started developing. It’s probably the one that’s furthest along right now”.

He spoke about the massive success of the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which was based on his 1981 book Who Censored Roger Rabbit? and went on to win four Academy Awards.

His plan is to make sure that the Jessica Rabbit live-action movie matches the quality of the 1988 movie and does not disappoint its viewers.

He said:

“Any sequels that we do have to at least match the quality of the original 1988 movie. In production value, in tone, in script content, in empathy, in character development. It has to be as good, or better than, what we did before. That’s what the fans want, and I have promised the fans that’s what I’m going to give them”. 

The Jessica Rabbit movie would create a world in which both humans and cartoons can coexist, and Jessica finds herself putting her skills to use and working for the XERIOUS Organization. 

Stay tuned for more updates.