After nearly two years, the $50 million Escape from Planet Earth lawsuit against the Weinstein Company is over, according to a report by Deadline [1].
The distributor came to a settlement with plaintiffs Brian Inerfeld and Tony Leech on February 15, the same day the animated film was released.
In a document filed in the New York Supreme Court, lawyers for both sides filed a motion of discontinuance in the case, effectively ending it. No details of the settlement were made available but because the motion was filed “with prejudice” both sides will be paying their own legal costs.
This legal battle started back in March 2011 when the two plaintiffs sued the Weinsteins claiming that the “out of control” brothers “sabotaged what should have been a highly profitable movie through a potent combination of hubris, incompetence, profligate spending and contempt for contractual obligations.” In their suit the duo also claimed that the Weinsteins paid them $500,000 to keep quiet while the company conducted an ultimately successful campaigned to win The King’s Speech a Best Oscar.
Harvey and Bob responded in calling Inerfeld and Leech “vindictive Hollywood talent.” The case had become a “we say/they say,” winding through the courts with multiple motions from both sides.
Escape from Planet Earth, which cost $70 million to produce, made $20.3 million at the box office over its opening holiday four-day weekend.
Links:
[1] http://www.deadline.com/2013/02/escape-from-planet-earth-50-million-lawsuit-weinstein-company-settled/