‘Spider-Man’ Producers Sue Julie Taymor
The producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark have filed a countersuit against the show’s co-creator and original director, Julie Taymor, accusing her of jeopardizing the $70 million musical by being indifferent to ticket sales. A 66-page file submitted to federal court in New York by producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris comes in response to a suit filed by Taymor insisting that the producers infringed on her copyright with “unauthorized and unlawful” use of her written works.
“Taymor refused to develop a musical that followed the original, family-friendly Spider-Man story, which was depicted in the Marvel comic books and the hugely successful motion picture trilogy based on them,” says papers filed by Cohl and Harris. “Instead, Taymor, who admits that she was not a fan of the Spider-Man story prior to her involvement with the musical, insisted on developing a dark, disjointed and hallucinogenic musical involving suicide, sex and death.” Taymor has yet to comment on the countersuit.
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which was revamped and relaunched with greater involvement from songwriters Bono and the Edge, remains a hit on Broadway despite negative reviews.