The Upcoming remake of “Road House” starring Jack Gyllenhaal, Is facing a tumultuous situation, as the original writer R. Lance Hill, of the 1989 film “Road House” takes legal actions against Amazon Studios.
Hill, who goes by his pen name David Lee Henry, claims that “Amazon Studios ignored his ability, under the 2018 US Copyright Act, to reclaim the rights for its 1986 Screenplay.” They’ve also been accused of using AI generated voices to replicate the actors’ voices.
The lawsuit was filed in the US Central District Court in Los Angeles. Hill filed the necessary petition under the US Copyright Office in late 2021. But, Amazon Studios who already owns the “Road House” through MGM’s Film library. Ignored his Copyright claims and went ahead with the production of the movie.
Furthermore, Doug Liman known for “Mr. And Mrs. Smith” , “Edge Of Tomorrow”, also the director of the movie, spoke about Amazon Studios. According to him, the deal was he will make a great movie for the MGM’s and also for the big screen, but Amazon bought MGM. The director also said , “When Road House opens the SXSW film festival, i won’t be there”. Liman ended his speech by saying, “By putting this out in an OTT platform, They (referring to Amazon Studios) will never understand the excitement one feels inside a dark theatre with a bunch of other people”.
About the allegations based on the AI generated voice, this isn’t the first time a movie is facing such criticism. But, Amazon Studio, said that there was no use of AI generated Voice, all the voices are of the real actor himself. And, even if the movie used the AI generated voice, they were used on the early cuts of the movie.
The suit is targeting to block all distribution of the movie which is about to release on 21st March on Amazon Prime. According to a spokesperson of Amazon Studios “The allegations given by R Lance Hill are without merit and are filled With false allegations.We will try our best to defend ourselves”.
