SPIDER-MAN Producers Make Motion to Dismiss Julie Taymor's Lawsuit; Taymor Responds

Julie Taymor's SPIDER-MAN legal battle continues to press on, as producers 8 Legged Productions, LLC have filed a dismissal of her lawsuit, which claims that much of her work was used unrightfully by the new team. According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, Taymor has responded by filing a dismissal of this dismissal. 

As previously reported, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (“SDC”) on behlaf of Taymor and 8 Legged Productions reached a settlement on litigation pertaining to unpaid royalities Taymor felt she was owed from the weekly box office intake.

Pursuant to the parties’ settlement agreement, the Producers agreed to pay Julie Taymor full royalties for her Director services for the New York production of SPIDER-MAN, from the inception of the run through its duration pursuant to the terms of her Director’s agreement, and to pay certain other amounts due to Taymor as a Collaborator, when the show’s New York production recoups. The parties also reached agreement with regard to compensation owed for subsequent productions.

What was not settled, however, was the issue of whether the new team's usage of Taymor's original show elements was kosher or not.  Producers claim that all of the key elements of the production, including Arachne, were derived from the decades-old comic book series. Taymor believes that "she's made an original creation, and that producers stole more than 350 lines of dialogue and descriptions of stage activity," notes The Hollywood Reporter.  They further explain: "But the producers are now responding that whatever she claims to have created -- like a deep look into Spider-Man villain Arachne -- was simply a derivative of stuff that came before."

For a detailed report on the lawsuit and subsequent dismissals filed, click here.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark features new direction by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony® Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge, and book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics, "Big Love").

Inspired by nearly 50 years of Marvel comic books, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek suddenly endowed with incredible powers soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains put both his physical strength and strength of character to the test.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark now plays the following performance schedule: Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos