|
 "To Kill a Mockingbird" is set to officially open on Dec. 13
with previews beginning on Nov. 1 in New York. But a
representative of Lee's estate sued last month claiming
Oscar-winning writer Aaron Sorkin's script deviates too much
from the beloved 1960 novel about race relations in the
Depression-era U.S. South.
The lawsuit "has rendered it impossible for the play to premiere
as scheduled in December 2018, and unless this dispute is
resolved in the immediate future, the play will be canceled,"
the court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan
said.
Rudin's countersuit accuses Lee estate representative, Tonja
Carter, of not raising objections to the script until six months
after it was submitted to Lee's literary agent in August 2017.
It also asks for damages of no less than $10 million and says
Carter's lawsuit has "rendered it impossible" to raise the
millions in funds it says it needs before the play opens.
Carter did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
In her March lawsuit, Carter alleges Sorkin, the creator of
Emmy-winning TV series "The West Wing," added two characters to
the script and that he told trade magazine Playbill that the
book as written "doesn't work at all" as a play.
The script also "did not present a fair depiction of 1930s
small-town Alabama" by tying it to today's social climate and
portrayed protagonist Atticus Finch as initially naive to
racism, according to the lawsuit.
[to top of second column] |
In response, Rudinplay argues the play is defined by its live stage
production and not its script.
It offered to perform its adaptation at the courthouse with full
cast that stars Jeff Daniels as Finch so a judge could determine if
the play departed from the spirit of the novel.
Rudin, who paid $150,000 for the stage rights to the novel, is a
major Broadway and Hollywood producer, having won an Oscar and
multiple Tony Awards.
Lee died in 2016 at age 89.
"To Kill a Mockingbird" was met with high praise on its publication,
winning the Pulitzer Prize and earning Gregory Peck an Academy Award
for best actor in an acclaimed 1962 screen adaptation.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
