Warren Beatty eyes Dick Tracy sequel

Warren Beatty is "serious" about making a sequel to his action movie Dick Tracy.

The veteran actor produced, directed and starred as the police detective in the 1990 movie, based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name, and had been contemplating a follow-up for years but he became embroiled in a legal fight over rights to the story.

Beatty won the battle in 2011, and he is now giving proper thought to making another instalment happen.

“I’m serious about it, but I am slow about these things," he told reporters at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Wednesday (13Apr16) after he had presented New Regency Films owner Arnon Milchan with the Legends of Cinema Award.

The Israeli producer also confirmed the project is being discussed and could be completed within two years. He said Beatty was "very serious" and a sequel was a real possibility.

However, Beatty, 79, is currently still working on a film about Howard Hughes, which he wrote, directed and stars as the business tycoon. Beatty has been developing the project since he met Hughes in the 1970s, and after many delays, the film was shot in 2014 with an ensemble cast featuring Alec Baldwin, Annette Bening, Lily Collins and Matthew Broderick.

"I had never been in a film that he directed before and I loved it, loved being directed by him. He's very well-known to be a great director and he is and we were able to improvise, which is the most fun... He's great," Bening told U.S. show The View in 2014.

The romance drama moved around studios before finding a home with 20th Century Fox. It is now set for release in the autumn (16).