Dave Franco and Alison Brie have responded to a ‘ridiculous’ lawsuit brought against them for their new film Together.
The pair are co-defendants in a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement related to their newest film.
Together is a body horror in which a couple slowly merge into one person as a metaphor for co-dependency.
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Franco and Brie were sued in May of this year by the creators of a film called Better Half in which a couple fuse together physically after a one-night stand.
The lawsuit alleges the film is a ‘blatant rip-off’ and claims that the movie was pitched to Brie and Franco to star in, at which point they rejected the offer as they wanted to produce the concept themselves.
This has hung over the press tour for Together, which releases this week in the UK.
When asked about this in an exclusive interview with LADbible, Dave Franco said: “You know, Michael Shanks, our writer-director, has already put out a statement that we fully stand behind.
“We have an extensive paper trail that proves how ridiculous these claims are.
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“We have the receipts, and I hope you can understand that we are moving forward and we are going to celebrate this film that we put our literal blood, sweat and tears into.”
Alison Brie then added that, like Michael Shanks, they want to ‘celebrate his work and this beautiful thing that we made that we have made with a lot of passion and love’.
Director Michael Shanks, who wrote the script for the film, released a statement earlier this year in which he called the allegations in the lawsuit ‘devastating’.
Shanks stated that much of the film, including the exploration of co-dependence and the portrayal of main character Tim’s parent’s death deeply affecting him, were based on his own life.
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He went on to say: “I lost my father at a young age in the same way our main character does, his trauma is rooted in my own.
“To have this called into question is not only deeply upsetting but entirely untrue.
“I wish I didn’t have to clarify this, but I completed the first draft in 2019 and registered it to the Writer’s Guild of America that same year.”
He states he was introduced to Dave Franco in 2022 and they bonded over their love of horror when he pitched the script for Together after years of trying to get it produced.
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Discussing the accusation he stole the idea, Shanks said: “The suggestion not only undermines the work but also attempts to erase the emotional and professional journey I’ve taken to bring it to life.
“More importantly: the facts matter. The timeline is documented. The drafts, submissions, and correspondence are all there.”
Production company Neon and WME, the agency that represents Michael Shanks, released a joint statement in which they rubbished the claims as ‘drumming up 15 minutes of fame for a failed project’.
They went on to add: “The plaintiff doesn’t care about the facts, they only care about making waves in the press right before a film’s release in order to get a payday.”
Full details of the lawsuit can be found here and full statements from Michael Shanks and Neon/WME can be found here.
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Together releases in cinemas across the UK on August 15th.
Topics: Film, TV and Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin