R

span class="inline inline-left">Rowan Atkinson. APThe Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) has called on the Jakarta Police to halt the screening of Mr. Bean Kesurupan Depe (Mr. Bean is Possessed by Depe) and investigate the movie for allegedly misleading moviegoers.

The movie, produced by K2K Production and directed by KK Dheeraj, opened on June 7 and movie posters imply that it features British comedy actor Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. Posters and trailers for the film display Atkinson with his trademark smirk wearing a white pocong (death shroud).

Fans who saw the film claim the actor playing Bean was only a look-alike. The movie producer also said in a statement that the movie featured “the real Mr. Bean from England”.

“The movie violates the Consumer Protection Law. This can be considered fraud, which doesn’t need a complaint from anyone for the police to start an investigation,” YLKI chairman Sudaryatmo told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Dheeraj, however, claimed that the movie merely used the character of Bean and did not announce that the film would feature Atkinson.

“No one is committing fraud here. I promised from the beginning to present Mr. Bean from England in my movie,” Dheeraj said as quoted by kompas.com.

He defended his use of the name “Mr. Bean,” saying that people long associated the character with Atkinson.

Dheeraj also declined to reveal the name of the actor playing “Mr. Bean” in his film.

“I don’t know his real name, but he’s from England. The film crew also called him by that name,” he said.

The producer also claimed that his production team had arranged all the licensing issues with the copyrights holder of the “Mr. Bean” trademark.

Friday last week, the official Facebook page of Mr. Bean issued a statement to clarify that Atkinson had nothing to do with the production of the local horror flick.

“Please be aware that it has nothing to do with your beloved Mr. Bean or Mr. Rowan Atkinson so please avoid being disappointed,” the statement said.

Atkinson’s latest film, Johnny English: Reborn, was met with mixed reviews but still grossed US$160,078,586 worldwide.

His first feature film Bean, released in 1997, was an international success, earning $251,212,670 in box offices worldwide. (fzm)