Will Smith’s King Richard film honoring the life of Venus and Serena Williams’ father may be put on pause for longer than expected. While the film waits to return to production amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Will Smith, Richard Williams and Warner Bros. have been hit with a potentially multi-million dollar breach of contract lawsuit.
The bulk of the lawsuit lies at the feet of Richard Williams. TW3 Entertainment and Power Move Multi-Media claim they paid for had the rights for the Williams story before Smith and Warner Bros. did. However, the two parties claim they were cut out of the deal and are now seeking financial damages. Furthermore, TW3 Entertainment and Power Move Multi-Media claim that Warner Bros. bought the rights to the story for pennies on the dollar in order to make the original contract worthless.
“Plaintiffs’ good faith and contractually protected efforts to bring an amazing story into visual art form were met with Defendants’ greed and disregard for Plaintiff’s existing rights.” the plaintiffs’ complaint states.
“This case presents an unfortunate and tawdry situation: the cold and calculating misappropriation and interference with Plaintiffs’ intellectual property,” the complaint adds.
Williams nor Warner Bros. have released a statement on the matter yet.
