It’s a very merry holiday for Michael Keaton. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman dismissed claims brought by a production company run by hedge fund manager Paul Duggan that Keaton didn’t fulfill his contract for “The Merry Gentleman,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Written by Ron Lazzeretti, starring Keaton and Kelly Macdonald and filmed in Chicago in 2007, the story was about a young woman who escapes her abusive husband and then enters a complicated relationship with a suicidal hit man.
When Lazzeretti became ill, Keaton was paid $100,000 to direct the film and deliver the first cut in 2007, well after the deadline. Unhappy with Keaton’s work, the producers cut their own version which was accepted at Sundance in 2008. The film cost $5.5 million and while it was critically and artistically acclaimed, it was a box office bomb.
The lawsuit’s shortcoming, Judge Feinerman stated, was the lack of causation between Keaton’s supposed breach of his director’s agreement and the monetary losses the film producers said they incurred.
Essentially, the plaintiff was attempting to prove reliance damages, meaning the producers would be compensated as if the contract with Keaton had never been formed. They not only wanted Keaton’s $100,000 fee returned, they wanted back their entire $5.5 million investment in “The Merry Gentlemen.”
“The problem is that Merry Gentleman [LLC] does not even attempt to make such a showing,” the judge wrote, referring to the connection between Keaton’s actions and the damages.
“The closest ‘Merry Gentleman’ comes is its drive-by, one sentence argument that Keaton’s alleged breaches caused damages ‘in that it was unable to screen and market the film of its choosing’ and ‘in that it endured substantial additional costs.'”
These arguments were underdeveloped, Judge Feinerman said. The production company didn’t say what those additional costs might be or how it didn’t get the film of its choosing.
“While Keaton allegedly took too long to finish the first cut, he did finish it; and while he allegedly should not have insisted on his Director’s Cut’s being shown at Sundance, his cut received positive reviews, and he appeared at the festival and made all required publicity appearances; and while he allegedly should have been more enthusiastic and engaged in his television appearances, he did make the appearances and, by Duggan’s own admission, he worked harder to publicize the film than any other director of a comparably sized film.”
“It is undisputed that Keaton actually finished the film and that it was selected by the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, was shown at the festival’s largest venue, and received critical praise and nationwide publicity unusual for such a film,” was Judge Feinerman’s opinion.
Yet to be addressed are Keaton’s counterclaims alleging that the producers breached the director’s agreement by failing to provide him with qualified editors and working on their own version of the film.
The judge said the counterclaims fail on pretty much the same failures to allege causality. He’s giving Keaton’s legal team a few weeks to brief on why dismissal on the counterclaims shouldn’t be entered.
