Australian director Michael Shanks has issued a statement following the accusations that his horror film, Together, was hit with a copyright lawsuit.
The film, starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco, follows a couple who become physically stuck to each other due to a supernatural cause. The film proved a hit at Sundance earlier this year, where it was sold for $17 million to Neon.
However, the success was cut short by a lawsuit alleging that Shanks, Brie and Franco had stolen the idea for the film from the 2023 romantic comedy Better Half, which the suit described as a “blatant rip-off.”
According to the lawsuit, a casting director working on behalf of StudioFest approached Franco and Brie’s agents at WME Entertainment in 2020 with the script for Better Half, hoping to cast them in the film. The couple passed on the opportunity.
Earlier this year, the producers learned that Franco and Brie were instead starring in a film they claim is “virtually identical.”
In a statement issued on Wednesday (18 June), the 34-year-old director claimed his film is not ‘just a script’ but called it a ‘reflection of something deeply personal’.
“Have you ever been in a relationship so long that the line between you and the other person starts to blur?” Shanks wrote. “I've been with my partner for over 16 years, almost half my life. That entanglement of identity, love, and co-dependence is what inspired Together.”
Shanks described the accusation as both ‘deeply upsetting’ and ‘entirely untrue’, saying the film is rooted in his own experience, and something that was developed over several years.
“To now be accused of stealing this story - one so deeply based on my own lived experience, one I’ve developed over the course of several years - is devastating and has taken a heavy toll,” he said.
In May, in a statement to The Independent, a spokesperson for WME said: “This lawsuit is frivolous and without merit. The facts in this case are clear and we plan to vigorously defend ourselves.”
On Wednesday (18 June), the company proceeded to add that the legal action is focused solely on “drumming up fifteen minutes of fame for a failed project.”
Shanks detailed a timeline of Together’s development in an effort to defend the film’s origins. He confirmed the first draft was completed in 2019 and registered with the Writers Guild of America that same year. “I wish I didn’t have to clarify this,” he wrote.
“In October 2020, I received development funding from Screen Australia to further the project. In 2022, my agent at WME introduced me to Dave Franco. From our very first meeting, we bonded over our love of horror, and I pitched him Together – a script I had been trying to get into production for years, with no luck. Soon after, he and Alison Brie came onboard to act in and produce the film.”
The alleged accusation of copyright not only “undermines the work”, Shanks added, but also attempts to “erase the emotional and professional journey” the project took to be brought to life.
“But more importantly, the facts matter. The timeline is documented. The drafts, submissions, and correspondence are all there,” Shanks clarified.
The Australian director referred to his project as a “dream come true” and one that he intends to stand by and is “so excited to share with the world later this year”.
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