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Stallone is Suing Warner Bros. Over Falsifying ‘Demolition Man’ Profit Numbers

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D

Dalek

Member
Sylvester Stallone Suing Warner Bros. for Fraud and "Dishonesty"

In the 1993 science-fiction film Demolition Man, Sylvester Stallone's character is brought out of a decades-long state of cryopreservation to pursue a nemesis. The actor himself has now wakened from a slumber of a different kind to take on Warner Bros. over its accounting of profits on the film.

On Wednesday, through his loan-out company Rogue Marble, Stallone filed contract and fraud claims against the studio. In a complaint lodged in Los Angeles Superior Court, he alleges that the participation statement doesn't make sense while demanding a fuller accounting on Demolition Man, which also starred Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock. The film made about $58 million upon its theatrical release and much more in home video sales.
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In taking on Warner Bros., Stallone is fighting the same studio that distributed 2015's Creed, which earned him an Oscar nomination. But the 70-year-old actor believes the time is right and is making a stab at doing something about "Hollywood Accounting" with the stated intention of helping others in the creative community.

"The motion picture studios are notoriously greedy," states the complaint. "This one involves outright and obviously intentional dishonesty perpetrated against an international iconic talent. Here, WB decided it just wasn't going to account to Rogue Marble on the Film. WB just sat on the money owed to Rogue Marble for years and told itself, without any justification, that Rogue Marble was not owed any profits. When a representative of Rogue Marble asked for an accounting, WB balked and then sent a bogus letter asserting the Film was $66,926,628 unrecouped. When challenged about this false accounting, it made a double-talk excuse, then prepared an actual profit participation statement for the same reporting period, and sent a check for $2,820,000 because the Film had in fact recouped its deficit."

According to the lawsuit, Stallone got 15 percent of defined gross once the picture earned $125 million. When Demolition Man earned more than $200 million, his take would escalate to 17.5 percent, and when it surpassed $250 million, his profit participation would climb to 20 percent.

Demolition Man, states the complaint, achieved at least $125 million, so Stallone asserts he's entitled to at least 15 percent.

Stallone says that after 1997, he got no profit participation statements until his agent reached out to Warners in 2014 to inquire.

In January 2015, he received a short summary which noted an alleged deficit for the film and stated that no payment was due. Stallone's company then questioned the validity of numbers "because they did not make any sense." Soon, a second statement came along with a $2.8 million check. It was only one page. There wasn't much detail.

"Rogue Marble alleges on information and belief that it is owed additional contingent compensation on the Film," states the complaint.

The actor is seeking an unknown amount of restitution for the alleged contractual breach and also targeting much greater damages with a fraud claim. Stallone will be attempting to support the fraud claim by showing that the studio misrepresented and intentionally concealed facts. However, as the case moves forward, he'll likely need to demonstrate why such a claim isn't duplicative of the asserted contract breach.
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hollywood math
 
V

Valtýr

Member
He read the news about the Taco Bell wedding, which reminded him of Demolition Man, which reminded him of this lawsuit he never got around to filing.
 
A

Azure Dream

Member
To be fair, if it's as it's portrayed here:

In January 2015, he received a short summary which noted an alleged deficit for the film and stated that no payment was due. Stallone's company then questioned the validity of numbers "because they did not make any sense." Soon, a second statement came along with a $2.8 million check. It was only one page. There wasn't much detail.
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...That's a pretty big red flag.

"You're not owed any money."
"Your numbers don't make sense."
"Uh here's $2.8 Million bye."
 
C

CFMOORE!

Member
Valtýr;233947753 said:
He read the news about the Taco Bell wedding, which reminded him of Demolition Man, which reminded him of this lawsuit he never got around to filing.
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don't forget the Spinal Tap braintrust suing for $400m in profits they are owed due to hollywood's accounting on that film's total earnings over the decades.
 
J

Jenov

Member
Good. Too many shitty stories of Hollywood fucking over people with bullshit contracts and shady accounting.
 
I

Instro

Member
Yeah this is the shadiest of shit. I get the impression that few movies ever really lose money after everything is said and done, yet somehow studios will tell you they lose money on most, or are barely turning a profit.
 
R

riotous

Banned
Instro said:
Yeah this is the shadiest of shit. I get the impression that few movies ever really lose money after everything is said and done, yet somehow studios will tell you they lose money on most, or are barely turning a profit.
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Particularly movies from the 80s and 90s. Racking up TV contacts for years and years.
 
S

smurfx

get some go again
they really tried to say that they were 66 million dollars in the hole with this movie? lol although that box office take is way lower than i thought for this movie.
 
A

AuthenticM

Member
Valtýr;233947753 said:
He read the news about the Taco Bell wedding, which reminded him of Demolition Man, which reminded him of this lawsuit he never got around to filing.
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I want this to be true.
 
old

old

Member
Hollywood accounting is an art. It even extends to the music industry.

It should be illegal.
 
R

Ricky_R

Member
vsaintlo said:
Now? He must've kept this lawsuit on ice...
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tenor.gif
 
G

Gattsu25

Banned
Valtýr;233947753 said:
He read the news about the Taco Bell wedding, which reminded him of Demolition Man, which reminded him of this lawsuit he never got around to filing.
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This is the timeline that I prefer
 
S

Savitar

Member
Didn't movies like LotR and the Harry Potter movies "not make any money" due to manipulative accounting? I swear I read an article saying so due to the standard tricks studios pull.
 
O

old manatee

Banned
It's a legit scandal that Hollywood has been cooking the books like this for so long. I remember hearing about how this was a widespread problem decades ago.
 
B

Big-E

Member
Sly fighting the good fight even though he doesn't need the money. There needs to be laws in place and huge punishments for these accounting practices.
 
D

Dalek

Member
Tempy said:
There was something similar regarding Forrest Gump, right?
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Yes. And the writer of Forrest Gump wouldn't sell rights to the sequel because he said he couldn't in good conscious let Paramount make a movie that they would lose money on.
 
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