Resurrection of Robin on hold

Mrs Doubtfire was one of Robin Williams' biggest hits but there will be no Mrs Doubtfire 2.

The comedian’s estate restricts use of his image for 25 years.

When Robin Williams died last year, a sequel to one of his biggest hits, Mrs Doubtfire, was in early development. As we've seen in recent times, an actor's untimely death, no matter how tragic the circumstances, doesn't necessarily mean curtains for a production.

CGI was used to finish Oliver Reed's scenes in Gladiator when he died of a heart attack halfway through filming, and the forthcoming Fast & Furious 7 used special effects to complete Paul Walker's scenes after he was killed in a car crash.

But Mrs Doubtfire 2 will never make it to the big screen after documents from Williams' estate emerged stipulating a restriction on his image, or any likeness of it, being used for 25 years after his death.

The filed deed states that his image cannot be used in film or publicity until 2039 and he also passed the rights to his name, photograph and signature to the Windfall Foundation, a charity that he set up.

"It's about protecting their brand legacy," says Marketing magazine's Nicola Kemp. "It's testament to how much and how quickly the market is changing with technology and the possibilities regarding bringing back the dead."

Indeed, Williams could easily have ended up doing stand-up as a hologram. Just look what happened to the rapper Tupac, who played the main stage at Coachella music festival in 2012, despite having died 16 years earlier. Last year a hologrammed Michael Jackson performed at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.

Of course, where stars are usually resurrected these days is in the world of advertising. Recently we've seen Marilyn Monroe purring "J'adore Dior" in a commercial for the French fashion house and Audrey Hepburn eating chocolate in an ad for Galaxy.

Kemp says the deceased can make a good investment.

"Say you pay a footballer a vast sum of money to promote a brand and then they do something terrible and it's a disaster for the company. You don't have that issue with the dead."

That's not to say these kinds of spots always go down well.

After Saatchi & Saatchi created adverts for Dr Martens that featured Kurt Cobain, Joey Ramone and Sid Vicious wearing the boots in heaven, the firm was fired by the shoemaker.

And fans of Bruce Lee didn't take kindly to his image being used to advertise Johnnie Walker whisky, considering that he didn't drink.

"It's kind of a moral minefield that advertisers need to get to grips with," says Kemp.

So while Robin Williams' decision to protect his image might cause some to pause, he has avoided a life after death that few celebrities would choose for themselves.

- Independent