Filmmakers say Relativity’s ‘The Crow’ reboot won’t fly
“The Crow” won’t ever take flight as long as it is in Ryan Kavanaugh’s hands.
The Hollywood insider’s bankrupt Relativity Media is all but dead and its claim to be ready to reboot the long-delayed cult classic is hollow, a group of filmmakers claim in recently filed court papers.
The filmmakers — all associated with the “Hunter Killer” film to be produced by Neal Moritz of the “Fast and Furious” franchise — want the project back and claim in the legal proceeding that statements from Relativity about being ready to start making films again is a “sham” perpetrated by lawyers and hedge fund investors associated with Kavanaugh’s broke studio.
The filmmakers’ action hopes to quash Relativity’s request for more time to file a confirmation plan to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Relativity has an exclusive contract to help produce and distribute “Hunter Killer” — an action-thriller set to star Gerard Butler.
But the studio has “neither the personnel nor the capital necessary to operate a film production and distribution business,” the filmmakers claim.
“By the time the debtors claim they will be able to present a plan for confirmation in May, the ‘Hunter Killer’ Project will already be incapable of being produced,” according to the motion.
Relativity’s lawyers want to sustain “the charade” to rack up millions in legal fees, while the hedge funds want to avoid writing off their investments, the filing contends.
“The only explainable rationale for continuing this case as a Chapter 11 is an effort by the new DIP [debtor in possession] lender and others to cause the issuance of new debt and equity securities (which we’ll call ‘vapor paper’) that they can ‘mark to market’ at a level above the zero value of their pre-petition investments,” the motion alleges.
It then defines vapor paper as securities that lack real value but that, in this instance, Relativity could assign an inflated value to keep lenders from having to account for their “worthless” positions.
The filing also claims Relativity’s request for an extension is an attempt to “prop up this charade long enough for Ryan Kavanaugh to find another unwitting investor that would fund a plan.”
A spokesman for Relativity countered the allegations, calling them “nothing more than a desperate producer’s attempt to use the media to pressure Relativity Studios into giving up its lawful rights to ‘Hunter Killer.’ ”
“The Crow,” a 1994 film from Miramax starring Brandon Lee, has been the subject of several reboot attempts over the years.
There were even reports earlier this year that Relativity was looking to bring Forest Whitaker aboard the project in an undisclosed role.