This story from the past is news to us. According to Variety columnist Army Archerd, Yul Brynner and Kirk Douglas were both locked in a battle over the screen rights to Spartacus. Archerd's archival column from 1958 reports that Douglas lost an early round to Brynner, but was determined to get the rights even if he had to fight for it. Douglas did emerge victorious, of course, and broke the Hollywood blacklist in doing so by hiring Dalton Trumbo to write the screenplay for the Oscar-winning film. Archerd gives us an update to the story, pointing out that there were no hard feelings between Douglas and Brynner. In fact, Brynner would play a supporting role in Douglas' 1966 film Cast a Giant Shadow. For the story click here