The lawsuit seeks declaratory relief and aims to block distribution of the film.
R. Lance Hillscreenwriter of the original 1989 film “Road House”has filed a lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its parent company, Amazon Studiosfor copyright infringement.
In the presentation shared by the Variety portal, Hill (who uses the pseudonym David Lee Henry) claims that Amazon ignored his ability to claim the rights to his 1986 script while they were putting together a new version starring Jake Gyllenhaalwhich will premiere March 21 on Prime Video.
What the lawsuit says against Amazon for the Road House movie
Hill’s lawsuit alleges that he filed a petition with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2021, requesting that the copyright be returned to him after United Artists’ claim expired in November 2023.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that Amazon ignored their complaints and proceeded with the filmusing artificial intelligence to replicate the voices of ADR actors during the SAG strike in an effort to complete the film before the November 10 deadline.
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Hill’s lawsuit claims that the film was not actually completed until January, months after the copyright deadline passed. He also raises problems with “substantially similar key literary elements” to Hill’s original script, including a detailed display showing side-by-side plot points from the original and those from Amazon’s retelling.
“On November 11, 2023, the copyright to the script duly reverted to Hill under the Copyright Act. However, in violation of the Act’s author’s fundamental right of termination, defendants refused to recognize Hill’s lawful termination,” the lawsuit reads. “Instead, defendants moved forward with production of a remake of the 1989 film derived from Hill’s script.”
The WGA gave Hill a “story for” nod for the remake and credits, “Based on the motion picture ‘Road House,’ screenplay by David Lee Henry and Hilary Henkin, story by David Lee Henry.”
The lawsuit seeks a declaratory relief and aims to block the distribution of the film.
Source: Ambito
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