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Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams, is going to court because of a dispute over the movie rights to his life story.
According to THR, TW3 Entertainment and Power Move Multimedia on Tuesday sued Richard Williams, Warner Bros. and Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, along with several others, over the upcoming film King Richard.
Per the outlet, TW3 claims it optioned the rights to Williams’ memoir Black and White: The Way I See It through his son, Chavoita Lesane, in 2017. As a coach, Williams has been central to his daughters’ careers, and the book tells the story of how “he has walked a long, hard, exciting, and ultimately rewarding road for seventy years, surmounting the many challenges to raise a loving family and two of the greatest tennis players who ever lived.”
TW3 and Power Move added that they did not only acquire the motion picture rights to the book but also the rights to Richard Williams’ life story. They paid $10,000 in May 2017 and then began working to develop the project. In July 2018, they became aware that Star Thrower Entertainment also had a project about Williams’ life in the works.
THR continues:
Per the outlet, TW3 claims it optioned the rights to Williams’ memoir Black and White: The Way I See It through his son, Chavoita Lesane, in 2017. As a coach, Williams has been central to his daughters’ careers, and the book tells the story of how “he has walked a long, hard, exciting, and ultimately rewarding road for seventy years, surmounting the many challenges to raise a loving family and two of the greatest tennis players who ever lived.”
TW3 and Power Move added that they did not only acquire the motion picture rights to the book but also the rights to Richard Williams’ life story. They paid $10,000 in May 2017 and then began working to develop the project. In July 2018, they became aware that Star Thrower Entertainment also had a project about Williams’ life in the works.
THR continues:
TW3 and Power Move claim it sent Star Thrower a cease and desist and the company’s lawyers reached out to Williams’ accountant asking for a copy of the 2017 agreement, but Lesane assured them the document hadn’t been shared.đź“Ž The key is : Learn how to BE HAPPY BY YOURSELF FIRST. Because a human being that is happy on his/her own will never settle to be miserable with someone else. When you find happiness on your own then you will be able to spread it and share it with someone else. ... CRITIC ALSO đź–‹️ spill TEA ☕ Easy on Shade đź’Ł
They also say from September to December 2018 they pitched the Williams project to Warner Bros., along with other projects, and were told a deal was definite. But, in January 2019, they were told Warners wasn’t interested in doing any biopics. Two months later, Lesane informed them Warners was making the King Richard film but they could exploit the rights in another format, such as a limited series. A few days after that, news broke that Smith was attached to star in the Warners movie. The plaintiffs say they reached out to Overbrook’s president of production and he seemed surprised about their claim to the rights but didn’t follow up on a promise to look into it and get back to them.
TW3 and Power Move are suing Lesane and Williams for breach of contract, Warner Bros. for breach of implied-in-fact contract, and Overbrook and Star Thrower for intentional interference with prospective economic advantage, among other claims.
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