'Weekend at Bernie's' talent sue MGM & FOX for back compensation

It's obvious that in Hollywood, people will scam you out of money any way they can.

Who doesn't remember the 80's comedy 'Weekend at Bernie's'?  For those of you too young, the story goes like this.  Rich boss guy dies, a guy at his office and his bumbling friend find him dead.  They proceed to spend the summer on an island pretending the guy is not dead.  Meanwhile a hitman is trying to kill them.  Just a normal summer.
That's it in a nutshell.

Robert Klane (screenwriter) and Ted Kotcheff (director) have filed a lawsuit in L.A. superior court demanding back pay of residuals for the 1988 comedy 'Weekend at Bernie's".

The film has made over $30 million in gross and $16 million in actual revenue from the distribution.

Sounds to me like Klane and Kotcheff are owed some money.  Maybe MGM or FOX will have to pay up soon.



To refresh your memory.

   

MGM Declairs Chapter 11

via TheMovieBlog.com:

Looks as though Metro Goldwyn Mayer was forced to file Chapter 11 this past week.  The studio was forced by a private investor and now, looks like the entire library of films will be up for auction.  There are some great titles on the MGM label.  It will be interesting to see what the other studios try and buy up when the bidding starts.

MGM headed for sale

It's sad to see a giant fall but this is probably not the last time we'll see this.

Looks like MGM is another of the giants to find out that the world of Entertainment has changed & they were too far behind to keep up. They've changed hands a few times over the years, didn't opt to keep their deal with Disney and what used to be the MGM studios in Orlando and now news trickles down that the studio will likely go up for auction in pieces in the next few weeks.

Apparently, in the current market place MGM is only worth 1.5 Billion. That's nuts when you consider the catalog of films it has behind it & the iconic image that the logo holds in the entertainment industry. But times are tough & if they are choosing to let it all go on the market, they will not get what they 'think' the studio is worth.

Here is the real problem, they have nothing New to offer the world now. This year MGM only released 1 film, a remake of FAME and it did not do well, big surprise. Plus their list of films for 2010 do not sound impressive either, "Hot Tub Time Machine", "the Zookeeper" and a Remake of "Red Dawn". God Bless them for trying but this is sad.

Hot Tub Time Machine? Are they kidding with that title? (shakes head)

more of the story available over at VARIETY