Uh oh… Looks like MacGruber might be in the sort of trouble that a few wires, some copper piping and a handy can of Pepsi can't get you out of (not that he ever does survive anyway): according to the team at Latino Review, the creator of MacGyver is crying foul over the new film.
It appears that Lee Zlotoff, who created the '80s series that made Richard Dean Anderson a mullet-sporting TV action icon, is now claiming that the Saturday Night Live-based comedy movie goes beyond acceptable parody and strays into rights infringement.
Zlotoff, you see, retained the control of the film rights to his series, has been developing a cinematic spin-off and is now talking to lawyers about possible injunctions or a copyright lawsuit.
The test will come as lawyers try to decide whether MacGruber makes fair use of the character, and, according to lawyers who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter once they followed up, the fact that Will Forte's bubbling take on MacGyver is so clearly a parody could stand in its favour.
But it looks like yet another case of a studio pushing a film into production without really checking all the legal angles. Surely everyone learned from the Dukes Of Hazzard debacle?