Hollywood agent-turned-producer Polone worked with series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to develop the series, and was credited as an executive producer for all seven seasons during its original run on America’s WB and CW networks from 2000 to 2007.
Now eight years later, the beloved show is coming back in the form of four, 90-minute mini-movies on the popular Internet streaming service with Sherman-Palladino back at the helm. However, Polone is not attached to the new instalments.
And on Friday (08Apr16), he filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Warner Bros. Television, who own the rights to the programme.
In the legal documents obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Polone states he developed the original concept with Sherman-Palladino in 1999, and as an executive producer, he had language in his contract which permitted him to $ 32,500 (£20,312) for each episode produced after 2003 and a percentage of funds earned by the show.
After bosses at Netflix officially announced the revival in January (16), Polone approached Warner Bros. executives for his share, but he claims they refused. They are classifying the four episodes as “derivative works based on the television series Gilmore Girls”, and do not consider the instalments as a television series because it’s being produced for Netflix, not a broadcast network, Polone states Warner Bros. said.
Polone is seeking at least $ 195,000 (£121,875) in damages.
This isn’t the first time he has sued Warner Bros. TV over Gilmore Girls – in 2008, he also hit them and chiefs at The WB network with another breach of contract lawsuit, claiming the two parties “colluded to defraud the originator of hit Gilmore Girls television series with a scheme that rivals the greed and bravado of any story line defendants could script,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
While Netflix bosses have yet to comment on the lawsuit, they have confirmed the new Gilmore Girls episodes will premiere later this year (16).
Nearly all of the original cast is returning for the revival, including titular stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, as well as Kelly Bishop, Melissa MCCarthy, Scott Patterson, and Milo Ventimiglia, among others.
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