Tyler Perry's Upcoming Alex Cross Movie Erupts Into Legal Fight (Exclusive)

The film reboot of author James Patterson’s iconic Alex Cross character won’t hit theaters until sometime next year, but the movie has already prompted a nasty legal fight.

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Producers of I, Alex Cross, in which Tyler Perry stars as the character made famous by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider (both adapted from Patterson novels), on Wednesday sued another set of producers who allegedly are not involved in the project but are demanding credit and to be paid.

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Bill Block’s QED International, as well as entities JBP Business and SueJack, filed suit against Jan Korbelin, Marina Grasic and their Visitor Pictures claiming that Visitor was initially approached in 2008 to produce the crime drama but negotiations for a deal broke down and the parties went their separate ways. Now that the film is shot and set for release next year by Summit Entertainment, the lawsuit claims Visitor has resurfaced and is claiming “that they reached a binding agreement with plaintiffs relating to their involvement in the film, and that they are entitled to compensation and screen credit set for in the draft [deal].”

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The plaintiffs claim Visitor has been threatening litigation. We've reached out to the defendants for comment and will update if we get a response.

The suit asks the Los Angeles Superior Court to deny Visitor credit or compensation for I, Alex Cross (the complaint says the film title is simply Cross) but seeks no money.

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The complaint, filed by Gregory Korn and Gregory Gabriel of Santa Monica’s Kinsella Weitzman firm, seeks a declaratory judgment that Visitor and its principals have no involvement in the film.

Email: Matthew.Belloni@thr.com
Twitter: @THRMattBelloni