Crash was a movie I fell in love with instantly. For some people the glitter of the film faded quickly, revealing a preachy message, but I still love what Paul Haggis accomplished with the picture. To me the movie should stand as a testament to diversity and tolerance (and, of course, intolerance). Unfortunately, that’s not why the movie’s name is being brought back up two years later.
Paul Haggis, who wrote and directed Crash, has filed charges against Bob Yari Productions, claiming he and his writing partner Bobby Moresco are owed $4.7 million for their role as producers of Crash.
According to Variety, the two were entitled to a three-tier compensation based on the film’s success. Succeed it did, garnering a fair amount of commercial success as well as an Oscar for Best Picture. Now Haggis and Moresco want their due, and investigations have revealed some bogus book cooking on Yari’s part, used to affect profits, therefore reducing the amount Haggis and Moresco were entitled to. I know what you’re thinking – false charges in a producer’s book? How could that possibly be?
Sadly this isn’t the first lawsuit surrounding the film. A wave of lawsuits over producer credits came with the 2005 Academy Awards, when the film’s added attention suddenly made being a producer on the picture an important thing.
