Another ‘City of Lies’ Lawsuit Adds More Problems to an Already Troubled Production

August 31, 2018

City of Lies, the Johnny Depp movie about the murder of the Notorious B.I.G., has run into more trouble. Global Road Entertainment and Miramax are now being sued for failing to distribute the film, which was pulled from release at the start of August. Will the latest City of Lies lawsuit finally lead to distribution, or is this one Johnny Depp film unlikely to ever see the light of day?

They should retitle this film City of Problems, am I right, folks? City of Lies, a movie where Depp plays a real-life cop looking into the murder of the Notorious B.I.G. following the death of Tupac Shakur, has run into even more legal woes. The Wrap reports Bank Leumi, who put up $23.2 million in loans to finance City of Lies, have filed a lawsuit against Global Road Entertainment and Miramax for failing to release the movie. This is just the latest snag in an already troubled production.

A location manager on the film previously filed a lawsuit claiming Depp punched and attacked him on set (a claim Depp denies). Soon after that, the film was pulled from its originally scheduled September 7 release date. Many assumed the location manager’s lawsuit was the cause of the film’s delayed release, but it was soon revealed that Global Road Entertainment was in financial trouble. As a result, Global Road is trying to shop City of Lies to another distributor, with hopes of staving off bankruptcy.

But now, Global Road is facing litigation over this whole mess. Per the lawsuit, Global Road “agreed to distribute the film domestically and pay a minimum $5.4 million guarantee directly to the bank, with Miramax getting the TV rights for a $4.25 million guarantee.” Obviously, none of that is happening now.

According to Page Six, Miramax already told Bank Leumi that no payment was due, because of “significant problems with the production [that] have significantly devalued [the film], including … the highly publicized alleged off-screen conduct of Johnny Depp, as well as a lawsuit filed against Mr. Depp and the production because he allegedly physically attacked a crew member on the set.”

So what now? Will City of Lies ever be released? Global Road is still trying to sell it off, along with several other movies, like the horror film The Silence, and a live-action/animation hybrid based on the Playmobil toys. If Global Road can find a new home for City of Lies, there’s a good chance it’ll find release – be it in theaters, or direct to VOD. For the time being, though, City of Lies remains in limbo.