Julie Taymor, the envelope-pushing director who co-created the much-maligned Broadway spectacle Spider-Man: Please Make It StopTurn Off the Dark, is suing the show's producers. After critics savaged the production before opening night, and several cast members sustained injuries, Taymor was pushed aside by the producers, who made significant changes before officially opening in April to mixed reviews and packed houses. Taymor's lawyer claims his client spent more than seven years creating the musical but was paid just $150,000—and that was five years ago. Now she's come to collect.
According to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by the Times, after replacing Taymor the producers continued to use about 25 percent of her original script. "The producers have failed to compensate Ms. Taymor for their continued use of her work to date, despite the fact that the show has consistently played to capacity or near-capacity houses since its first public performance in November 2010," her attorney tells the Times. "Ms. Taymor regrets that the producers’ actions have left her no choice but to resort to legal recourse to protect her rights."
Last week producers sent Taymor a check for $52,880 to cover royalties for performances leading up to opening night. It's unclear how much Taymor is suing for, but her lawsuit alleges that the production is grossing $1.4 million a week as ticket holders shell out $100 per seat. However, Spider-Man is also twice as expensive as any production in Broadway history, and producers claim that after covering the operating expenses of $1 million and paying down loans they took to open the show, they're barely breaking even.
“The production has indeed compensated Ms. Taymor for her contribution as a co-book writer," producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris said in a statement. "The court system will provide, once and for all, an opportunity to resolve this dispute." The Times also reports that the lawsuit "seeks an injunction against the unauthorized use of her name and likeness in a documentary film, made by the producers, about the making of the musical."
