Columbia Pictures Files Lawsuit In ‘Bad Boys’ Rights Dispute

Columbia Pictures on Friday filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court as part of a dispute over rights to the original Bad Boys movie. The 1995 Will Smith-Martin Lawrence buddy comedy was a hit that spawned a franchise, with two sequels and a third in the works, that has grossed more than $840 million at the global box office.

The breach-of-contract suit (read it here) filed in the Central District of California, Western Division, is in response to copyright termination notices filed in 2020 by George Gallo, who co-wrote the story on which the first film was based, and Robert Israel.

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Columbia argues that Gallo’s story, written in 1985 and called “Bulletproof Hearts,” was a work for hire via his company Sweet Revenge. Works for hire “are not subject to termination under Section 203 of the Copyright Act,” the studio says.

Gallo says the work was not work for hire and that any rights Columbia had to make derivative works of his story ended on June 27, 2022. He had filed a pair of notices on the matter in June 2020, after news broke of a fourth movie being in the works.

“The contract regarding the 1995 film explicitly states, complete with full personal representations and warranties from Mr. Gallo, that the story – which was transformed by many other writers into what became the original film — was written as a work-for-hire,” Columbia said in a statement today. “By law, such rights cannot be terminated. Entirely confident in its rights, the studio has sought declaratory relief confirming them and potential damages from interference with those rights and breach of contract.”

The fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise is well in the works, with Bad Boys for Life‘s Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah back directing from a script by Chris Bremner. Rhea Seehorn is part of the ensemble cast that also includes Eric Dane, Paola Núnez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ioan Gruffudd and Alexander Ludwig.

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