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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Credit Woes Dog Linklater on ‘Dazed’ Sequel

MANHATTAN (CN) - "Dazed and Confused" director Richard Linklater snubbed an early investor in the credits of his latest movie, the man claims in a federal action.

Erik Gordon says when he got a copy of the Linklater project, tentatively titled "That's What I'm Talking About," Cinetic Media CEO John Sloss had pitched it as "the spiritual successor to 'Dazed and Confused' with a little 'Before Sunrise' thrown in."

It was 2009, and 16 years had passed since "Dazed" earned instant cult-film status.

Gordon and Insurgent Media, a California business he manages, say they invested $412,140.62 into film, but that Linklater suspended work on the film later that year.

Gordon says he got another pitch from Sloss about the same movie in May 2013. Though Gordon remained interested, the May 13 complaint says Linklater said he was too involved in other projects to move forward with the film.

Gordon says he learned for the first time during a January 2016 flight to Los Angeles from the Sundance Film Festival, that Linklater had already made the film under a new title, "Everybody Wants Some."

When Paramount released the film in the United States two months later, it did not include Gordon or Insurgent in the screen credits, according to the complaint.

Gordon says Sloss received credit as an executive producer, and Cinetic's logo made an appearance as well.

Gordon seeks disgorgement of the $380,000 fees paid to Cinetic as well as the value of benefits Cinetic procured as outgrowth from the screen credit Cinetic received.

"Credits are extremely valuable to the advancement and building of careers and businesses in the motion picture industry," the complaint emphasizes.

Linklater's last film, "Boyhood," was nominated for six Academy Awards, with Patricia Arquette taking home the Oscar last year for best supporting actress.

Linklater and Detour Film Production are based in Austin, Texas, where Linklater also serves as the artistic director of the Austin Film Society, which he founded in 1985.

A Texas appeals court ruled against Linklater's insurance claim last year over the destruction of his film archive in a 2011 wildfire.

Representatives at Detour Film Production and Cinetic Media declined to comment Tuesday morning.

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