Warner Bros Lawsuits: Sylvester Stallone Sues Studio Over Fraud And 'Dishonesty'

Sylvester Stallone is suing Warner Bros over contract and fraud claims Wednesday alleging the studio of intentionally hiding profits from his science-fiction film “Demolition Man” in 1993, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Stallone filed the allegations through his loan-out company, Rogue Marble and lodged a complaint in the Los Angeles Superior Court, where he accused the studio of being "notoriously greedy" and states that in this specific case, Warner Bros. was "obviously intentionally dishonest."

"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," the complaint read.

Stallone claimed in his complaint that he received no statements from the studio till 1997, following which his agent reached out to Warner Bros in 2014. However, the studio sent him a summary stating that the ‘Rocky’ star was not entitled to receive any money as there was no “alleged deficit” for the film. Stallone’s company then questioned the numbers "because they did not make any sense." After this, the studio sent him a $2.8 million cheque. It is not yet decided how much the actor is claiming now for the damages caused and the subsequent contractual breach.

This is not the first time Warner Bros has faced such allegations. There have been at least three other instances earlier where the studio has been sued for copyright infringement, plagiarism or for providing inaccurate details surrounding true events.

Tattoo artist Victor Whitmill in April 2011, sued Warner Bros. for a copyright infringement involved in the film The Hangover Part II. Whitmill accused the studio of using a replica of Mike Tyson’s tribal face tattoo that was exclusively designed for Tyson by the artist and thus became a copyright issue to use it publicly or in any promotional materials related to the film. In Hangover Part II, Stu (Ed Helms) was shown waking up with the replica of Tyson’s tattoo.

However, Warner Bros settled the allegations with an undisclosed amount and the film was released all over.

Gerald Brittle, author of a 1980 book on the paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren claimed that "The Conjuring" series and "Annabelle" infringed on his exclusive rights to come up with derivative work based on the Warrens’ cases. Brittle mentioned that he had an exclusive deal with Lorraine Warren about the work and said that the producers violated the deal by using his work in the movies. He claimed that the movies infringed on his 1980 book called "The Demonologist" that spoke about the stories of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Warner Bros, New Line Productions and Director James Wan faced a lawsuit that claimed $900 million in damages.

Warner Bros faced a lawsuit after the studio failed to follow the proper procedure before using the main theme music of the Fox series “Lucifer.” The studio faced copyright and fraud claims when the credited writer of the theme music sought help from other composers but claimed the work was his own.