The screenwriter for "Bohemian Rhapsody" has dropped his breach-of-contract suit against the film's co-producer in which the plaintiff alleged he was owed unpaid profits from the 2018 film about Freddie Mercury and the band Queen.
Attorneys for Anthony McCarten filed court papers on Tuesday with Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark H. Epstein asking that their client's case against GK Films LLC, which is managed Graham King, and production company WAGW Inc. be dismissed "with prejudice," meaning it cannot be refiled. No terms were divulged.
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King, a British producer, also was behind such other movies as "The Aviator" and "Hugo." In their court papers, defense attorneys maintained that McCarten's claims were barred by the statute of limitations and that the two companies were not liable due to McCarten's prior breach or failure to perform."
McCarten, a 62-year-old New Zealand-based writer, filed suit in November 2021, seeking unspecified damages and an accounting of the film's profits.
"McCarten's one condition before agreeing to take on writer duties was that he wanted to interview the band," according to the complaint. "The resulting script was framed by his interviews with Brian May and Roger Taylor, in which they regaled him with tales of their first meeting with famed lead singer Freddie Mercury, the band's breakup, their re-unification and Mercury's untimely death. The rest is history."
The film was announced in 2010 and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen of "Borat" fame was originally picked to play Mercury, but Cohen left in 2013 due to creative differences with producers, the suit stated.
"The project then languished for several years before King hired McCarten to rewrite the script, going through multiple lead actors and directors," the suit stated.
McCarten also co-produced 2022's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," a Whitney Houston biopic, from a script he penned.
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