Sylvester Stallone is suing Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. through his company Rogue Marble Productions, claiming fraud and breach of contract.
In a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, he claimed that the studio isn’t compensating Rogue Marble appropriately for profits made from the film “Demolition Man,” which also starred Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock. The film grossed an estimated $58 million when it was released in theaters in 1993 and has earned at least $125 million in Defined Gross, according to the claim.
“The motion pictures studios are notoriously greedy,” the complaint read. “This one involves outright and obviously intentional dishonesty perpetrated against an international iconic talent. Here, WB decided it just wasn’t going to account to Rogue Marble for the Film. 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.”
The complaint also stated that Rogue Marble asked WB for accounting upon which it received “false accounting.”
“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 continued. “When challenged about this false accounting, it made a double-talk excuse, then prepared an actual profit participation statement for the same reporting period, and sent a check for $2,820,000 because the Film had in fact recouped its deficit. Mr. Stallone is entitled to, among other things, a full accounting, an explanation of how this practice came to be, interest, damages, and an end to this practice for all talent who expect to be paid by WB for the fruits of their labor.”
According to the lawsuit, Stallone was supposed to receive 15 percent of defined gross once the picture earned $125 million. Once it earned more than $200 million, he would be entitled to 17.5 percent, and when it surpassed the $250 million mark, he was supposed to get 20 percent.
“Because ‘Demolition Man’ achieved at least $125 million in Defined Gross, Rogue Marble is entitled to at least 15 percent of the Defined Gross,” read the lawsuit. Stallone also added that after 1997, he got no profit participation statements until his agent reached out to Warners in 2014.
In January 2015, he then received a summary which noted an alleged deficit for the film and stated that no payment was due, at which point Rogue Marble questioned the validity of the statement “because they did not make any sense.” Shortly after, Rogue Marble received a statement for $2.8 million but it was “one page and did not contain any details for the figures presented, not did it contain any detail covering the reporting period since the last statement.”
“Rogue Marble alleges on information and belief that it is owed additional contingent compensation on the Film,” stated the complaint.
The actor, who received an Oscar nomination for his role in “Creed,” which Warner Bros. produced, is seeking an unknown amount of restitution for the breach of contract and the fraud claim, as well as unfair, unlawful and fraudulent business practices.
“WB intentionally concealed or suppressed the material facts with the intent to defraud Rogue Marble because, by concealing or suppressing the facts, WB was able to maintain control over a significant amount of money for its own benefit,” read the claim. “Defendants have been unjustly enriched at the expense of Rogue Marble. Accordingly, Rogue Marble seeks restitution of all sums owed to it plus interest. In addition, Rogue Marble seeks injunctive relief to stop the unfair, unlawful and fraudulent business practices.”
Stallone is represented by attorney Neville Johnson. Warner Bros. had no comment.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.