'Cops' Producer Sues Nu Image for 'Brooklyn's Finest' Revenue

5:23 PM PDT 8/9/2012 by Matthew Belloni

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Langley Films claims it is owed money from the 2009 thriller starring Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke.

Courtesy of Everett Collection

"Brooklyn's Finest"

Cops producer John Langley's Langley Films has sued the prduction entity behind the 2009 cop thriller Brooklyn's Finest claiming it's been stiffed out of revenue from the film.

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In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against producer Nu Image and other entities, Langley Films claims it inked deals in 2008 to invest $3.65 million in Brooklyn's Finest and another $1.5 million in a film called Leaves of Grass. Langley claims it later entered into a settlement agreement with Nu Image wherein the company agreed to pay $2 million by Feb. 1, 2012, and another $300,000 by June 30, 2012, to resolve outstanding claims. Langley alleges the June payment never happened, so the company is suing for the full amount said to be owed.

"Despite Langley Films' payment of more than $3.65 million under the Brooklyn Agreement, Brooklyn's Finest Distribution has failed and refused to pay to Langley Films the amounts due and owing under the agreement," the lawsuit alleges. (Read the complaint here.)

Brooklyn's Finest, starring Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke and Don Cheadle, was released in 2009 by Nu Image sister company Millennium Films and grossed about $27 million domestic. Leaves of Grass, starring Ed Norton, grossed less than $1 million in 2009.

Langley also suggests in the lawsuit there might be a conspiracy behind the scenes: "Langley Films has reason to believe that Defendants and their principals and/or agents, including but not limited to Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, and Trevor Short, may have engaged in a scheme to defraud Langley Films and induce it into entering the Brooklyn Agreement and Leaves Agreement," the compalint alleges.

Langley is the creator an executive producer of Cops, the long-running Fox TV franchise. He also produces films via Langley Films.

We've reached out to Nu Image for comment.

The complaint, filed by Christopher Caldwell and Jeffrey Hammer at LA's Caldwell Leslie & Proctor, alleges causes of action for breach of contract and accounting.

Email: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com

Twitter: @THRMattBelloni