Hollywood Reporter: Julie Taymor has settled her blockbuster lawsuit over her exit from Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, the most expensive production in Broadway history. The Oscar-nominated director sued in November, alleging that producers including Michael Cohl's 8 Legged Productions continued to make use of her creative contributions even after she left. After the lawsuit was filed, 8 Legged brought counterclaims that stated she failed to live up to her obligations on the high-profile show.
5 comments:
I find it really amusing how spiderman is able to continually make the news, even now that it is just "another" show on Broadway, which is (thankfully) doing successfully. Everytime I see an article like this, it reminds me that I have not seen the show yet, and it makes me want to see it, if nothing else, to see what all the fuss is about. I am glad this has been resolved, but as the old saying goes, no press is bad press, and I am willing to bet that this will lead to at least a couple more butts in seats.
This Julie Taymor/Spider-Man settlement will definitely make the news again. As the article mentions, the terms of the settlement have not been announced, and news will definitely be made when that information is released. Controversy may ensue for a period (she got too much; didn't get enough). Though I am not sure this press will be particularly impactful as far as ticket sales since the settlement will have little impact on the actual show and does not increase the risks taken in the shows, which is a lot of why ticket sales went through such drastic changes and spiked when Spider-Man hit the news.
As entertaining as it might have been, I'm glad this case will not be going to trial. That would have been a mess, given that the legal justification of this is essentially "he said she said" on a case that is more a spitting fight than a legal issue. I don't understand why the current producers were stupid enough not to think that Taymor had some sort of claim to the underlying material- she spent long enough working on it that it seems clear that the ideas came from her at some point. Instead, they decided to spend a few extra million dollars, jacking up the already large price tag, in a pointless lawsuit. I agree with Jon, but would go further and say that maybe this whole lawsuit affair is just a gimmick to attract more press anyways. We'll see once they announce the settlement details.
I understand Julie Taymor's feelings regarding copyright claims, artistic input, and her multiple contributions towards the musical, but am concerned about what effect the negative press will have on the rest of her career. The musical itself continues to do well at the box office, whether people are genuinely interested in seeing the spectacle or whether they just want to see a musical that will definitely go down in history. But as Taymor continues to fight producers, and the press reminds readers of how dramatically she pushes the issue (regardless of whether or not she is in the right), I'm worried it might mean an end to her mainstream career. As I said, this show will go down in history for any number of reasons, and Taymor's controversial involvement, dismissal, adn convoluted concept for the show will definitely be a part of the story. I hope her career continues to flourish and SpiderMan was only a fluke. But I can only hope.
Is it bad that I love this? Cause I kind of love this.
This enormously expensive beast of a production, has a (less) enormously expensive legal battle occurring over how horrible and "SUPER HUMAN" the process was! I can't imagine anyone on the team loves being associated with this production, and they are just flailing in an open hole, clawing to get out.
I love it. Let's make it a reality TV show. Then again there'd be a legal battle wouldn't there.....
Post a Comment