Friday the 13th director Sean S. Cunningham is suing Paramount, Warner Bros.

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

UPDATE: Friday the 13th Part III cast member Larry Zerner, who is now an entertainment lawyer, was able to take a look at the paperwork for the new lawsuit and broke it down for fans on his Twitter account. As it turns out, this lawsuit focuses specifically on profits from the 2009 version of Friday the 13th. Here's what Zerner had to say: 

I got a hold of the new Friday the 13th lawsuit and can give you a little more information. The Plaintiffs are Sean S. Cunningham Films, Ltd. and Horror, Inc. The Defendants are Warner Bros., Paramount & New Line. Sean is represented by Johnson & Johnson, a very experienced Beverly Hills law firm handling these sort of Hollywood accounting cases. The lawsuit ONLY concerns profits of the 2009 F13 Reboot. None of the other films are part of the suit. 

The lawsuit alleges that the Defendants basically used "Hollywood Accounting" to cheat Sean out of the profits he was supposed to get from the Reboot. This is a fairly common lawsuit in Hollywood and will probably result in the Defendants paying Sean some money in the future. Will this lawsuit stop any future F13 movies from being produced? Hard to say. If things are worked out with Victor Miller (and that's a big IF), there is nothing stopping Sean and WB from going forward on a new movie. In fact, better to get some money going on a new production, than wait for a lawsuit to end. But either side could use the lawsuit to push for better terms on a new production. IMHO, if the Miller case is resolved, there will be a new movie made.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: 

Because one lawsuit dragging on for years just wasn't enough, the Friday the 13th franchise is now set to be bogged down in a second lawsuit. The legal battle being waged between original Friday the 13th (watch it HERE) producer/director Sean S. Cunningham and screenwriter Victor Miller over the U.S. copyright to the 1980 film still hasn't been resolved, the outcome is currently in the hands of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, but Cunningham – who holds the rights to the overall franchise – has now filed a lawsuit over net profits from the series. In this case, Cunningham is suing Paramount and Warner Bros, the studios that have released the Friday the 13th films over the decades.

According to a complaint filed on Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, the studios distributing the films have "systematically misaccounted" contingent compensation.

"This lawsuit presents the latest chapter of Defendants 'Hollywood accounting,'" writes attorneys led by Neville Johnson.

The Friday the 13th franchise has grossed more than $129 million, according to the complaint, but Cunningham says audits revealed there's been improper deductions of fees and bonuses, undervalued licenses, an underreporting of merchandizing revenue and pay TV income, and on and on. He also complaints that Paramount and Warner have redacted their "package" license agreements — preventing him from fully understanding the flow of money. He alleges that defendants' "withheld documents would reveal that the Pictures's distribution was structured to inequitably advance the interest of Defendants and favored third parties."

Now we'll have to wait and see how long it will take for this lawsuit to be resolved – and whether or not the Friday the 13th franchise will be seeking a new studio to call home when all is said and done.

The first lawsuit began in 2016, when Miller filed a lawsuit seeking to gain the U.S. copyright to the original Friday the 13th. U.S. copyright law says that writers can gain the rights to original works after 35 years – but Cunningham argued that Friday the 13th was not Miller's original work, he had only been hired to flesh out ideas Cunningham provided. No further Friday the 13th movies, video games, or licensed merchandise can be made until that court battle is over.