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In April, EuropaCorp rescinded its distribution agreement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.
