Legendary Pictures Sues Godzilla Producers Over Credit And Fees
This article is more than 2 years old
A few days ago, there was some word that production for the Godzilla reboot might commence this spring, targeting a possible 2014 release date. Although the elements are quickly coming together, something unexpected might stall the film’s production. Legendary Pictures has filed a lawsuit against some of the producers of the Godzilla reboot over whether they are entitled to remain on the production.
THR obtained legal documents that indicate Legendary Pictures is seeking the rights to fire producers Dan Lin, Roy Lee, and Doug Davison so they can advance production of the film. Their March 2011 contract with Lin Pictures and Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment stipulates that they can remain producers only if they are “deemed to be engaged” to produce the film. Legendary is claiming they are not. According to the complaint:
‘Defendants efforts on the project consisted only of introducing a screenwriter to Legendary and contributing notes to a screenplay which Legendary subsequently decided to not utilize,’ the lawsuit states. ‘Legendary judged that Defendants offered little to the ongoing production of the film, and that their likely role (if engaged) would not warrant the substantial fees and backend compensation that they could potentially earn as producers.’ The complaint continues, ‘Legendary notified Defendants in writing that it would not be engaging their services to produce the film.’
The film’s producers were not happy with the language of this complaint, so they threatened to file a restraining order against Legendary to stop the production of the film. The movie studio in turn filed first to seek arbitration of the contract dispute.
Lin and Lee brought the Godzilla reboot to Legendary Pictures, but because of creative differences, the studio wanted to get their producer’s role and fees reduced on the film. But when Lin and Lee declined, Legendary started the process to get them off the project.
So what does this mean for the Godzilla reboot? From the lawsuit, it looks like the movie will go into production this spring whether or not this issue is resolved. Legendary is seeking that the producers will receive “at most” $25,000 in development fees.
You can read the entire complaint against the producers of the Godzilla reboot over at THR.
