<b><i>Online Extra</b></i> Michael Keaton Not Liable for Box Office Flop 'Merry Gentleman'

“Merry Gentleman entered the directing contract to have Keaton deliver a finished movie, and he delivered one that showed well at Sundance and won some critical praise. The breaches by Keaton that Merry Gentleman alleges cannot reasonably be said to have rendered the investment completely worthless,” Judge David Hamilton'wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel'of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The panel upheld a trial judge's ruling that favored Keaton.

Undercutting the plaintiffs' assertion that Keaton pushed an inadequate cut to the public, the court noted that Roger Ebert gave the movie 3.5 stars out of four. (Ebert'wrote'that the film, a drama set in Chicago where Keaton plays a hitman, is 'original, absorbing and curiously moving in ways that are far from expected.)

“Reimbursing Merry Gentleman for all $5.5 million it spent, even though it received from Keaton a finished film praised by critics, would put it in a better position than if the contract had not been made,” Hamilton wrote. More from the Seventh Circuit's ruling:

Perhaps Merry Gentleman might have been able to present a genuine issue for trial on a more modest damages theory, but it decided to shoot for the moon and missed.

Merry Gentleman agreed to pay Keaton $100,000 to make his directorial debut with the movie.

“We're very pleased with this victory,” said Keaton's lawyer, Michael Kump of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert in Santa Monica, California. “Michael directed a film which received critical praise at both the Sundance Film Festival and in the national media when released, and he put his heart and soul into making this movie. We're glad this is finally over.”

Attorneys for Merry Gentleman, represented by Michael Tanner of Tanner & Lehman, were not immediately available for comment.

Mike Sacks writes for The National Law Journal, an ALM sibling of Entertainment Law & Finance.

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A federal appeals court last month sided with actor Michael Keaton in a breach of contract suit brought against him by the producers behind his box office flop “Merry Gentleman.”

Taking its name from the movie, Merry Gentleman LLC sued Keaton and his production company, George and Leona Productions Inc., in Chicago federal court to recover the $5.5 million spent on the film.'Merry Gentleman v. George and Leona Productions, No. 15-1195 (7th Cir., Aug. 25, 2015).

The producers claimed Keaton sabotaged the film's success by pushing his director's cut to Sundance and theaters over the plaintiffs' preferred edit. The movie, released in 2009, was Keaton's directorial debut.

“Merry Gentleman entered the directing contract to have Keaton deliver a finished movie, and he delivered one that showed well at Sundance and won some critical praise. The breaches by Keaton that Merry Gentleman alleges cannot reasonably be said to have rendered the investment completely worthless,” Judge David Hamilton'wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel'of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. The panel upheld a trial judge's ruling that favored Keaton.

Undercutting the plaintiffs' assertion that Keaton pushed an inadequate cut to the public, the court noted that Roger Ebert gave the movie 3.5 stars out of four. (Ebert'wrote'that the film, a drama set in Chicago where Keaton plays a hitman, is 'original, absorbing and curiously moving in ways that are far from expected.)

“Reimbursing Merry Gentleman for all $5.5 million it spent, even though it received from Keaton a finished film praised by critics, would put it in a better position than if the contract had not been made,” Hamilton wrote. More from the Seventh Circuit's ruling:

Perhaps Merry Gentleman might have been able to present a genuine issue for trial on a more modest damages theory, but it decided to shoot for the moon and missed.

Merry Gentleman agreed to pay Keaton $100,000 to make his directorial debut with the movie.

“We're very pleased with this victory,” said Keaton's lawyer, Michael Kump of Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert in Santa Monica, California. “Michael directed a film which received critical praise at both the Sundance Film Festival and in the national media when released, and he put his heart and soul into making this movie. We're glad this is finally over.”

Attorneys for Merry Gentleman, represented by Michael Tanner of Tanner & Lehman, were not immediately available for comment.

Mike Sacks writes for The National Law Journal, an ALM sibling of Entertainment Law & Finance.

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