The original producers of “Dumb and Dumber” have fired back at producers of the sequel, claiming that a “pattern of unlawful and unethical behavior” has kept them off a project with which they have every right to be involved.
Steve Stabler and Brad Krevoy, who produced the original 1994 pic starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, claim that they put in “long hours” to secure production financing for a sequel, which Red Granite acquired out of turnaround from Warner Bros. Last week, Red Granite filed docs to keep both producers away from the production, claiming that the duo wanted undeserved credits and fees.
But in docs filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, Stabler and Krevoy say that their deal with New Line entitled them to work on the sequel, and even attached the original agreement with New Line for good measure. They claim that Red Granite and its owners, Christopher McFarland and Riza Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz, reneged on the pair’s agreement.
“Despite plaintiffs’ substantial contribution to the original and to the initial development of the sequel, McFarland and Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz caused New Line Cinema to wash its hands of plaintiffs’ agreement and Red Granite to renege on the obligations to plaintffs that it purported to assume from New Line Cinema and Warner Bros.,” court docs read.
Krevoy and Stabler are suing for unspecified damages to be determined at trial.
Accusations of “unlawful and unethical” behavior point to Red Granite’s lawsuit with Alexandra Milchan over “The Wolf of Wall Street,” in which Krevoy and Stabler claim that the production shingle reneged on Milchan’s producer deal. That case has since been resolved.
“Red Granite has established a pattern of using Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz’s family money to buy motion picture franchises from the studios that developed them and purporting to assume the studios’ obligations relating o the franchises, but then reneging on contractual obligations to the key talent,” court docs read.
In its docs, filed last week, Red Granite claimed that “no agreement of any kind exists between Red Granite, on the one hand, and either Krevoy or Stabler, on the other hand, in connection with ‘Dumb and Dumber To,’ nor have Krevoy or Stabler furnished any pre-production, producing or any other services to Red Granite in connection with ‘Dumb and Dumber To.’”
Freedman and Taitelman are repping Stabler and Krevoy.
