Producer sues over Chicago

Catherine Zeta Jones starred in the film version of Chicago.
10 April 2012

A producer of the Oscar-winning movie Chicago is suing film studio Miramax for 10 million dollars (£5.7 million), claiming it failed to pay his company a share of the hundreds of millions of dollars taken at the box office

The Producer Circle Company (PCC), run by Martin Richards, says it owns the film rights to the 1970s Broadway hit, and was supposed to receive part of the film's earnings under its deal with Miramax to make the movie.

In the lawsuit, Richards says he and the studio's founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein were producers of Chicago, which became "the highest grossing and most profitable movie ever released by Miramax".

The film, starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger, won six Oscars, including best picture, and Richards collected the producer award.

PCC said in court papers that it believes the movie has grossed more than 300 million dollars (£171 million), but Miramax has failed to hand over the percentage it allegedly owes to PCC.

The lawsuit says: "While PCC is unable to determine with precision the amounts that it is owed, it estimates that Miramax's breach of contract has cost it no less than 10 million dollars."

Richards claims Miramax has tried to impose a "net profits" deal - from money that is left after many deductions and expenses - that it never agreed to.
The suit also accuses Miramax of shortchanging PCC by not accounting for DVD sales, foreign distribution and other sources of income.

It is unclear how much Richards and his company have been paid. The papers mention a total of 500,000 dollars (£280,000), made up of 300,000 dollars (£170,000) as a producing fee and 200,000 dollars (£110,000) when the movie passed its "first cash break even level".

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