How would an un-agented writer go about getting the clearance to pen a remake to a foreign film?

Learn who has the copyright on the script and pay for the rights.


Phil

Even for re-makes, you need to find out who owns the rights to the script. So you'll need to find out who produced\financed the movie. You would then most likely need to purchase the rights to re-make the movie (which will cost $$$).

So is a matter of who owns the rights to the actual film or the copy-righter of the script? I use the term remake lightly because I'm aiming to base my script more on the concept of the film rather than the its actually story. As far as finding the rights, what are some of the places that you would recommend that I start my search? Keep in mind that this is a fairly obscure splatter film that was produced in Italy under a production company that is non-existent today so finding the needed information could prove to be a great challenge.  

You may do well to read this thread to figure out whether acquiring the rights would be hoops you need to jump through. You indicated it's not a true remake but basing your script more on the concept. Are you using the actual copyrighted aspects f the film (script, characters, plot) or the non-copyrightable part (the idea)?