Sylvester Stallone is one up against Warner Bros. in the lawsuit over profits from the 1993 science-fiction film 'Demolition Man'. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected the studio's bid to throw out breach of contract and fraud claims. The actor is also being permitted to bring a potentially big claim that Warner's accounting practices are likely to deceive the public including others in Hollywood with profit participation agreements. Through his loan-out company Rogue Marble, Stallone filed his lawsuit in April. The complaint noted, "The motion picture studios are notoriously greedy. This one involves outright and obviously intentional dishonesty perpetrated against an international iconic talent. Here, WB decided it just wasn't going to account to Rogue Marble on the Film. WB just sat on the money owed to Rogue Marble for years and told itself, without any justification, that Rogue Marble was not owed any profits." According to the lawsuit, Warner Bros. initially asserted that nearly 67 million USD was unrecouped on Demolition Man and therefore, nothing was owed to Stallone, who was to get 15 to 20 percent of defined profits on the film. After being challenged, the studio sent Stallone a check for 2.82 million USD, but the actor wasn't satisfied. What makes Stallone's case provocative besides an A-list actor suing the same studio that distributed 2015's 'Creed,' which earned Stallone an Oscar nomination, is a claim of unfair business practices. The lawsuit characterises Warner Bros.' conduct as "unscrupulous, unethical and offensive," causing injury to consumers and threatening to harm competition, because other studios have their own agreements with profit participants. Stallone demanded injunctive relief in the form of "a full accounting, an explanation of how this practice came to be, interest, damages, and an end to this practice for all talent who expect to be paid by WB for the fruits of their labour."
