NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - A production company that specializes in made-for-TV movies and miniseries is fighting for the rights to "Time Bandits," the 1981 fantasy film produced by Handmade Films, the company co-founded by late Beatle George Harrison.

New York-based RHI Entertainment Productions LLC filed a breach of contract complaint on Friday against Handmade and Almorah Services Ltd., a corporation with offices in Britain. Almorah bought Handmade last year, the complaint said.

RHI wants damages and a declaratory judgment to enforce a $1.5-million agreement that its predecessor, Hallmark Entertainment, struck with Handmade in February 2001. That contract gave Hallmark the right to produce a television miniseries based on "Time Bandits," according to the complaint.

Handmade reserved the right to remake a big-screen version of the movie that originally starred Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall and John Cleese and featured songs by Harrison, the complaint said.

That agreement included a right-of-reversion provision that said if Hallmark did not start principal photography within four years of the contract, Handmade could repurchase the rights for the same $1.5 million.

Instead, after both companies changed hands, Handmade announced plans in 2009 to remake the movie. The company also told RHI they have "no right to produce or release the miniseries before the remake is released," the suit said.

Attorneys Maura Wogan and Amelia Brankov of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC, who filed the complaint in New York Supreme Court, could not be reached for comment. Neither could representatives for Handmade and Almorah.

Hallmark-EP acquired the rights in February 2001 and prepared a budget for the miniseries. It also entered into an agreement to obtain the writing services of Terry Gilliam, of Monty Python fame who produced, directed and co-wrote the screenplay for the 1981 film, the suit said.

In 2005, Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr. repurchased their company from Hallmark and changed the name to RHI-EP. In 2010, the company granted a one-picture license which permitted that licensee to enter into an agreement to obtain the services of another writer to rewrite the miniseries script, the suit said.

"In addition to the $1.5-million purchase price paid to Handmade, more than $270,000 has been spent developing the miniseries project," the suit said.

In October 2009, Handmade issued a press release announcing a forthcoming remake of "Time Bandits," the suit said. "The press release was intended to develop interest in the remake by potential distributors," the complaint said.

Almorah purchased Handmade in mid-2010. "Thereafter RHI-EP first learned that Handmade and Almorah were seeking production and distribution partners for the remake," the suit said.

In June, RHI-EP warned Handmade that it was in breach of its obligations, the suit said. "Handmade only has the right to exploit a remake as a theatrical release," according to the complaint. It also told Handmade "that it was actively developing the miniseries."

In an October e-mail, Almorah and Handmade representatives told RHI-EP that they were proceeding with the remake and that "RHI-EP has no right to produce or release the miniseries before the remake is released," the lawsuit said.

The case is RHI Entertainment Productions, LLC., v. Handmade Films, Ltd., Almorah Services, Ltd., et al, New York Supreme Court, No. 104573-2011. (Reporting by Jennifer Golson of Reuters Legal; Editing by Howard Goller)