Michael Moore's lawyer has slammed Harvey and Bob Weinstein's business tactics, insisting the movie moguls could end up owing the filmmaker $27 million when a lawsuit over Fahrenheit 9/11 goes to court.
The 2004 picture was released by Moore's Westside Productions via a deal with the Weinsteins' The Fellowship Adventure Group. It became the highest-grossing documentary of all time with worldwide profits of $222 million .
Moore claims the brothers reneged on a profit-share deal and accuses them of syphoning off cash for their own benefit. He filed suit on Monday (07Feb11) for $2.7 million in compensation.
However, Moore's lawyer Larry Stein has warned the siblings they should not have ignored the director's continuous calls for payment over the last three years, insisting their company could end up handing over 10 times the amount requested when it goes before a judge.
In a statement, Stein says, "If the lawsuit gets to the discovery phase (when, unlike dealing with the auditor, the Weinsteins will be under oath), that number of what is truly owed to Mr. Moore has the possibility of rising ten-fold, depending on what the court finds in the books of a film that grossed nearly a quarter billion dollars theatrically.
"At least $2.7 million? The Weinsteins should stop, consider themselves lucky, and respond to this gentle rebuke of their highly questionable accounting practises from their longtime collaborator.
"As Michael said to us last week, 'Actually, I think Harvey's first reaction to the suit will be, They only found $2.7?!'"
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