With Damien Leone’s promise that Terrifier 4 would enter production later this year, excitement for the project finally started to build. It’s been quite a long time coming, given that Terrifier 3 hit screens almost two years ago.
However, now something has emerged that threatens to derail the entire Terrifier franchise.
According to new filings, creator Damien Leone, Dark Age Cinema, and Art the Clown LLC are being sued.
The complainants are Ruthless Studios, who are suing Leone and co. for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, unfair competition, and improperly profiting from the Terrifier franchise without authorization.
But how is this possible when Terrifier and Art the Clown are Leone’s original properties?
Ruthless Studios’ claim that Leone transferred ownership of his Terrifier and The 9th Circle short films to them in 2013. The contract is alleged to not only include the short films, but also all related copyrights, trademarks, sequel rights, and derivative works.
It is the studio’s claim that Leone sold them these rights for $5,000 in return.
Ruthless Studios further state that Leone acknowledged their involvement in financing the 2013 short All Hallow’s Eve in various social media posts. They further claim that they allowed Leone to make the 2017 feature Terrifier as a “one-time” diversion from their deal. However, it is their belief that following the success of that movie, Leone purposely cut Ruthless Studios out of the profits.
If true, this would mean Ruthless Studios are entitled to a major cut of the profits from each Terrifier film. This, as well as the plethora of merchandising deal the property has landed over the last several years.
It goes without saying that a lawsuit over the ownership of the series will stall any further Terrifier output until a resolution is reached.
Damien Leone and co. have yet to respond to the allegations.
Given that Art is set to make his Dead by Daylight debut soon, are we bracing for a serious derailment? Or will this matter be handled quickly and quietly?
We’ll keep a close eye on this legal drama and report any further developments as soon as we can.
