Most days I come to this site write about the newest super hero movie. Sometimes I get to give my thoughts on a new Netflix or Disney Trailer. There are also the rare days like today. Days where I put my pants on, come to my laptop and put my legal (associates) degree to good use. The reason for this is because long time Fast & Furious Producer Neal Moritz is suing Universal studios over his involvement, or lack their of, in the new FF spin-off film Hobbs & Shaw.
The film will star Dwayne Johnson & Jason Statham and is due out next year. Anyone who’s seen Fate of the Furious can tell you this is the franchise’s only hope to remain fresh and relevant. However, that’s not what this story is about. Moritz suit alleges that Universal essentially acted in bad faith and reneged on their deal with him at the last minute.
Neal Moritz has been a producer on all 8 installments on the Fast & Furious series. He also has been involved with many other projects including 21 Jump Street and Passengers. His lawsuit says that his oral deal for the upcoming spin-off film guaranteed him both his ample salary and a percentage of the first dollar gross. Moritz argues that at the last minute, Universal pulled out of this deal and sought to offer far less than he’d been offered for any other film in the cars and heists series.
Universal has not yet filed any counter petitions nor have they commented, so at this point all we have to go on is Moritz side of the story. This certainly has the potential to get ugly. But honestly, these situations happen a lot in Hollywood. Lawsuits are often threatened when creatives claim the studios are using accounting loopholes to withhold residuals. So we threaten legal action, settle & repeat. I would imagine this will sort itself out and Moritz name will once again grace the credits.
This biggest heartbreak in all of this is that it’s clearly torn the creative team behind these movies apart. That creative team is kind of like a family. And if Dom Torretto & Brian O’Conner taught us anything, it’s that family is the most important thing in the world?
Are you troubled by all the recent turmoil happening in the ‘Fast & Furious’ movies? Do you remember when these were just ‘Point Break’ rip-offs with cars? let us know in the comments and be sure to checkout our homepage and follow us on Facebook & Twitter. Always check back with Boom Howdy for more up-to-date news, reviews & podcasts!
