SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (CN) - Alcon Interactive Group, a motion picture services company, claims in court that it's owed 45 percent of another company's settlement with Beyoncé for a video game featuring the superstar.
Alcon defines its services as motion pictures and ancillary activities on the California Secretary of State website.
Alcon, of Los Angeles, claims it put up $19.2 million in October 2010 to develop a motion-sensing video game called "Starpower: Beyoncé."
Beyoncé is not a party to Alcon's April 2 lawsuit in Marin County Court.
The game was supposed to use motion-sensing technology so users could emulate Beyoncé's dance moves, Alcon's attorney Gerald Sauer told Courthouse News.
Alcon's investment constituted a 45 percent interest in lead defendant Gate Five, a Delaware LLC whose registration was void as of June 1, 2014, according to the complaint.
Gate Five was founded to produce the game, which it planned to do with co-defendant BDJ, another Delaware LLC, Alcon says.
All of the parties involved in the game's planned production reached their agreements over the telephone.
"This isn't a deal on a napkin," Sauer said. "The parties had attorneys negotiating very lengthy and complex agreements that were basically finalized. All the parties agreed that they had a done deal."
But the day after the agreement was reached, Beyoncé decided to pull out, claiming a financing contingency had been breached, according to the lawsuit.
Gate Five sued Beyoncé in New York Supreme Court, and she settled with Gate Five and BDJ, but Alcon says it was excluded from the settlement proceeds.
Sauer said that Gate Five will not disclose the settlement's amount.
"We have very, very limited information," he said.
"We have no idea how much money there was, or where the money went. We just know that Gate Five, which we believe we're a part of, brought an action and was able to settle with Beyoncé for some unknown sum. We believe it's not a trivial amount of money, either."
Alcon is entitled to 45 percent of the settlement, whatever it is, Sauer said.
Also sued are Eckhardt Consulting, of California; William "Randy" Eckhardt; Greg Easley, of Connecticut; Big Boing LLC, of Marin County; and Matthew Brown, of Alameda County, none of whom could be reached for comment Wednesday.
Sauer is with Sauer & Wagner, of Los Angeles.
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