The Glenn Ficarra/John Requa film, about a married man who gets into a car crash, goes on a crime spree that eventually lands him in jail, was produced by French movie studio EuropaCorp, which licensed domestic rights to Consolidated Pictures Group.

The film premiered in 2009 at Sundance, where it received a warm but not overwhelming response. Buyers weren't exactly jumping at the difficult subject matter, but upstart distributor Consolidated took US rights and planned to release it, first in February, then March, April, and then July.

However, the Luc Besson-backed EuropaCorp says it never got the full $3 million advance that Consolidated agreed to pay last year. An agreement between the two parties was amended in February to allow Consolidated to pay in three installments, but EuropaCorp says it didn't receive any money.

In April, EuropaCorp rescinded its distribution agreement and filed a lawsuit against Consolidated alleging breach of contract and copyright infringement. The studio demanded the return of the movie and marketing materials. Gossip sites suggested they were looking for another distributor.

In response, Consolidated argued that EuropaCorp hadn't delivered the film on time, had breached its agreement by entering into distribution agreements with Virgin Atlantic and other airlines, and that its failure to pay wasn't a sufficient material breach. Consolidated requested a stay so it could hash out the dispute in an arbitration proceeding at the Independent Film and Television Alliance.