Conor McGregor's anticipated Hollywood debut in the upcoming movie "Road House" is in jeopardy as the film's release could be in doubt, according to reports from Deadline.
McGregor stars alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in this 1989 remake, with the plot centering around Gyllenhaal's character, Elwood Dalton, a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse. The movie was initially scheduled for release on March 21 via Amazon Video Prime.
However, a legal storm has hit the production, with a lawsuit filed against MGM Studios and its parent company, Amazon Studios. The complaint, filed by Hill under the pseudonym David Lee Henry, alleges copyright infringement and a refusal by MGM and Amazon to acknowledge the termination and license his screenplay.
The lawsuit claims,
“This case arises from Defendants’ blatant copyright infringement due to their willful failure to license the requisite motion picture and ancillary rights to Hill’s Screenplay underlying their derivative 2024 remake as required by law. Hill is further informed and believes and based thereon alleges that Defendants went so far as to take extreme measures to try to meet this deadline.
“[This was] at considerable additional cost, including by resorting to the use of AI during the 2023 strike of the Screen Actor’s Guild to replicate the voices of the 2024 Remake’s actors for purposes of Automatic Dialogue Replacement, all in knowing violation of the collective bargaining agreements of both SAG and the Director’s Guild of America to which Defendants were signatories attorney Marc Toberoff wrote in the 19-page complaint,” Attorney Marc Toberoff
Moreover, the complaint alleges extreme measures taken by the studios, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) during the 2023 strike of the Screen Actor’s Guild to replicate the voices of the actors for Automatic Dialogue Replacement (ADR), violating the collective bargaining agreements of both SAG and the Director’s Guild of America.
The news is a significant blow to McGregor, who had turned down several movie roles before taking up this project. With just weeks left before the scheduled release date, McGregor's much-anticipated acting debut is now hanging in the balance.
The legal battle reveals a clash over the termination of the screenplay's copyright and raises questions about the use of AI in film production. Despite Amazon's denial of AI usage, the lawsuit's allegations alone have stirred concerns within the entertainment industry.
As Hollywood braces for potential fallout, McGregor's fans and movie enthusiasts await further developments, wondering if this legal turbulence will put a TKO on the Hollywood debut of the renowned MMA fighter.