The executive producers of the first adaptation of Stephen King’s novel, It, claim that they were denied the opportunity to work on the Warner Bros’ It and It Chapter Two.
Frank Konigsberg and Larry Sanitsky filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging they had a contractual right to engage in a negotiation for any “sequel, series, remake, or spinoff,” plus are entitled to a minimum share of 10 per cent of net profits on any such subsequent production, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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“This action arises out of the Warner Bros’ utter failure to honour its obligations,” the suit reads.
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Sanitsky alleges that the studio breached his contract by making the films without him. He ran Telepictures Productions with his partner Konigsberg in the mid-1990s, and they acquired the rights to King’s novel together.
The pair developed King’s novel as a TV miniseries for ABC, which aired in 1990. They left the company after it merged with Lorimar Productions but were given credit on the miniseries.
The lawsuit alleges that the pair signed a deal with Lorimar that made them “non-exclusive executive producers” with rights to involvement in any sequel, spinoff or remake of the show.
As Konigsberg died in 2016 at the age of 83, Sanitsky, 67, is pursuing the lawsuit through his partners’ corporate entities.
The suit alleges that Warner Bros stopped issuing profit statements in 1995 and didn’t involve Sanitsky and Konigsberg in either film adaptations.
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The 2017 adaptation of It grossed more than $700 million worldwide, while the sequel hits theatres in September.
“That the 2017 feature film is indeed a ‘remake’ is indisputable,” the complaint states.
The suit claims they are entitled to 10 per cent of net profits of any remake, which it also alleges would amount to millions.
Warner Bros have not commented on the lawsuit as of this writing.
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