Parties in Lionsgate-Weinstein suit to seek mediation
Both sides in a lawsuit pitting Lionsgate Films against The Weinstein Co. over the distribution of the film "Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire" will try to resolve the case with the help of a private mediator, attorneys told a judge today.
Nonetheless, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Coleman A. Swart scheduled trial of the lawsuit for February 3, just in case the mediation effort fails. Both companies filed lawsuits in Los Angeles and New York February 4, claiming they had an agreement with producers to distribute the movie based on the story of a young, illiterate woman who is the victim of incest and trying to find her way in 1980s Harlem.
The film stars Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and Gabourey Sidibe, who portrays Precious Jones, the central character in the film. Lionsgate got to court first, suing Weinstein in Los Angeles just hours before TWC filed its suit against Lionsgate in New York. TWC also separately sued the agents for the producers, alleging fraud.
On May 6, a New York judge dismissed the Weinstein suit against Lionsgate. In doing so, he rejected Weinstein's claim that New York is the more appropriate location for the litigation to take place because most of the witnesses live there.
The judge said the parties "have a presence" in both New York and Los Angeles and frequently travel between both cities. In its Los Angeles suit, Lionsgate is seeking a judge's ruling that it owns the rights to distribute "Push" in the United States and Canada.
Weinstein attorneys say the company had a firm agreement with the film's producers and that Lionsgate interfered. But Lionsgate counters that the producers signed a written agreement stating they had no written or verbal agreement with Weinstein. (LA Daily News)
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