A legal settlement has still not been signed in the court fight between the producers of the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark†and their former director, Julie Taymor, despite a late-October deadline set by a federal judge overseeing the case, according to a spokesman for the show and two other people with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
The judge, Katherine B. Forrest, ruled on Aug. 30 that the two sides had 60 days to come to terms in the suit over the musical, which has become a fan favorite and been grossing an average of $1.4 million since performances began in November 2010.
Ms. Taymor, who was fired by the producers in March 2011 while preview performances were underway, filed suit last Novemberon copyright grounds, saying the producers were profiting from her “Spider-Man†script and staging and owed her more than $1 million in back pay and royalties.
The producers counter-sued, contending that Ms. Taymor had been fired for breach of contract because she would not cooperate with their plans to artistically overhaul the $75 million musical during previews.
While Ms. Taymor and the producers had reached a settlement agreement in principle, prompting Judge Forrest to set her deadline, they have continued to negotiate and consider their options this fall, the two people with knowledge of the talks said this week. The two spoke under condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case.
The sticking points remain unclear, but the two people â€" one who is close to Ms. Taymor, and one who is close to the producers â€" said some of the issues that have been under negotiation include a financial settlement for Ms. Taymor; an acknowledgement of her artistic contributions in future productions of “Spider-Manâ€; and the future of a film documentary about the “Spider-Man†musical that was made by Jacob Cohl, whose father is Michael Cohl, a lead produc er of the musical and one of Ms. Taymor's main antagonists in the backstage drama.
The documentary was filmed before and during the clashes between Ms. Taymor and Michael Cohl and the other producers, and it is not known how Ms. Taymor comes off in the film. The two people who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the documentary is now complete and that Jacob Cohl may submit it to film festivals or try to release it commercially.
A spokesman for the “Spider-Man†musical, Rick Miramontez, said on Tuesday that the settlement talks continued and that “all parties are moving forward amicably as the process extends for a bitâ€â€" perhaps a week or more, he added. He said Judge Forrest had been informed of the delay; if a settlement is not finalized, a jury trial in the case is expected in 2013.
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