It looks like there is some trouble brewing with the upcoming “Fast & Furious” spinoff, “Hobbs and Shaw,” which stars Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.
According to Deadline, the franchise producer Neal Moritz decided to sue Universal for “breach of oral contract and promissory fraud.” The producer was reportedly kicked out of production for the upcoming film. In the filing that was made Wednesday morning, it reads, “This case presents a classic example of Hollywood greed.”
Moritz is looking to be reinstated as the lead producer on “Hobbs and Shaw,” which just started shooting, or he is looking to be paid “tens of millions dollars in damages in lost compensation.”
In the 20-page complaint it states, “In an extraordinary show of bad faith, and just a few days before filming was set to begin on Hobbs and Shaw, Universal took the position that Moritz either had to amend his oral producer deal to accept substantially inferior financial terms, or be cut out of the Picture altogether. Remarkably, despite Moritz having complete Pay-or-Play protection on all of his last several deals on the FF Franchise and having relied on Universal’s oral promises, Universal also took the extraordinary position that it was free to exploit Moritz’s ideas for Hobbs and Shaw, and his work product over an approximately year-and-a-half period, without honoring its oral producer agreement.”
The document states that Moritz was reportedly dropped September 7th “after not agreeing to the significant reduction in his overall compensation that the studio seemingly sprung on him during the summer.”
We last reported that Idris Elba was cast in the film to play the main villain. He posted a photo from the set to introduce his character Brixton.
It’s unclear how long it will take to get this all resolved, but “Hobbs and Shaw” is scheduled to release in theaters on August 11, 2019.
