Sylvester Stallone Files Fraud Suit Against Warner Bros. over ‘Demolition Man’ Profits

Veteran actor Sylvester Stallone’s production company has filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. alleging fraud and breach of contract.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Stallone’s Rogue Marble Productions alleges that Warner Bros. failed to fully reimburse Stallone for the 1993 film Demolition Man, in which he played a starring role, according to the Wrap.

According to the claim, the film has generated $125 million in gross profits since its release, which Stallone alleges has not been compensated for.

“The motion pictures studios are notoriously greedy. 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 for 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,” the lawsuits reads.

The lawsuit also claims that Warner Bros. deliberately deceived Stallone and Rogue Marble by providing false financial documents.

“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,” the suit continued. “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. Mr. Stallone is entitled to, among other things, a full accounting, an explanation of how this practice came to be, interest, damages, and an end to this practice for all talent who expect to be paid by WB for the fruits of their labor.”

Rogue Marble adds that Stallone should have received 15 percent of the film’s profits after it grossed $125 million, and then incrementally increasing share once it reached $200 million.

“WB intentionally concealed or suppressed the material facts with the intent to defraud Rogue Marble because, by concealing or suppressing the facts, WB was able to maintain control over a significant amount of money for its own benefit,” it added.

Demolition Man is not the only Warner Bros. film in which Stallone has starred. In 2015, he received an Oscar nomination for his role in the boxing film Creed.

Last July, the company agreed to an undisclosed payout after it emerged they had deceived consumers by not properly disclosing that it paid those with large followings on YouTube and social media to promote a video game.

 

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