Reuters reports that the producers of the Broadway version of “Spider-Man” sued director Julie Taymor on Tuesday. Their discontent comes from the fact that the musical’s director doesn’t seem to care about ticket sales.
Julie Taymor’s version of the famous Hollywood movie is, according to producers, too “dark, disjointed and hallucinogenic” to attract viewers. Although the musical is produced mainly for the Broadway public, Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris want to sale as many tickets as possible. Based on what they have stated in the 66-page filing, Taymor’s version of the movie does not meet producers’ expectations.
“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has dealt with various problems, so far, such as, injured actors and opening night delays. Despite this, the musical managed to record a $2.9 million sales percentage in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. This is due to the fact that Taymor was fired in March 2011 and her version has been completely reworked. The production costs amount to $70 million because the show features music created by Bono and The Edge.
Taymor has won a Tony award due to her contribution to “The Lion King”. The director worked on the non-sung version of the “Spider-Man” until she was fired. Later on, she filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris. According to her, the two producers continued to make “unauthorized and unlawful use” of her written works after their collaboration ended.
The countersuit filed on Tuesday claims that Taymor did not perform her directorial duties as stated in the contract. As a matter of fact, she refused to develop a version that followed the family-friendly story of the “Spider-Man”. Moreover, the director who previously admitted that she is not a fan of the Marvel comic book character, wanted to introduce elements of suicide, sex and death in the musical.
Although Taymor’s attorneys were not available for comments, producers declared that the countersuit is the result of the conflict between Taymor’s creative desires and the show’s need to turn a profit. The show received poor reviews when Taymor’s version was first released in 2010.
