The Battle for The Crow Intensifies Between Relativity and the Weinsteins
Steve Barton
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Variety
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118036984?categoryid=4076&cs=1&cmpid=RSS|News|LatestNews
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Things are really heating up between Relativity Media and the Weinsteins over the proposed remake of The Crow. Then again, if the production wasn’t troubled, would it really be a Crow flick? The curse flies on!
According to Variety Relativity has accused The Weinstein Co. of intentionally masking its financial problems in order to induce Relativity to finance TWC’s tuner Nine. Relativity made the claim in a response filed Thursday to the lawsuit TWC filed against Relativity over rights to remake of The Crow.
Relativity’s response, which seeks more than $20 million, stems from TWC’s injunction filed last month in which the company sought to halt Relativity from selling distribution rights to anyone but TWC.
But Relativity has its own grievances – claiming that TWC’s “mishandling” of the co-financed B.O. disappointment Nine two years ago is reason enough to shop The Crow elsewhere.
In the filing Relativity claims “TWC’s unilateral, ill-founded decision regarding the film’s release directly resulted in the movie ‘Nine’ being a commercial disaster. Based on the information available to it, Relativity does not believe that TWC has the ability to meet ($70 million in P&A) obligations … and Relativity is under no obligation to allow TWC to ruin yet another movie.”
TWC attorney Bert Fields called Relativity’s response “complete hogwash.”
“If Mr. Kavanaugh had a claim on ‘Nine,’ he would have raised it at the time of ‘Nine,’” Fields told Variety. “If Mr. Kavanaugh hasn’t been living in a tree, he knows that the Weinsteins have completely restructured their company and have all the money they need and will get even more from ‘The King’s Speech’ … this is a thin excuse for violating his contract and repudiating ‘The Crow.’”
Relativity’s response also includes a motion to move the dispute over The Crow into arbitration, not litigation as Fields has requested through the injunction. Relativity cites a clause in their March 2009 agreement that calls for any disputes to be settled through “confidential arbitration proceedings.”
Law firms Weiss & Hunt, LLP and K&L Gates, LLP filed the response for Relativity, which include claims of breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, repudiation, and unfair business practices.
To quote a great Jewish friend of mine … Oy Vey!
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