Original 'Road House' scriptwriter's legal case against Amazon's Conor McGregor starrer remake falls flat in court

There has been a significant development in the ongoing legal case against Amazon's 'Road House' remake. It appears the original film's scriptwriter, R. Lance Hill, may not be able to sue Amazon Studios, MGM Studios, and United Artists (UA) over copyright infringement claims.

For context, Hill approached a California federal court in February to halt the Conor McGregor and Jake Gyllenhaal-starrer remake of the 1989 classic over copyright issues. He filed a lawsuit against Amazon and sought financial compensation and a court order to block the film's distribution.

According to a recent report by Deadline, producers of the new 'Road House' have now legally fired back at Hill and claim that Hill wasn't the individual who scripted the original film because it was written as a work made for hire at his own company, Lady Amos Literary Works.

As a result, Hill didn't have the right to claim the 'Road House' script as his own and couldn't terminate the copyright grant given to UA in 1986. This is because established copyright law states that the "author of a work made for hire is not the individual who created the work," and that's exactly what the defendant's federal counterclaim declares.

While the case has not been resolved, the studios behind the 'Road House' remake are confident that they will emerge the victors in this legal battle.

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When 'Road House' director Doug Liman initially decided to boycott the film's premiere at SXSW festival

In January, 'Road House' director Doug Liman declared that he'd be boycotting the film's premiere at the SXSW film festival.

Despite having global superstars like Conor McGregor and Jake Gyllenhaal on board, Amazon decided against releasing the movie in theatres and opted to stream the film on the Amazon Prime platform on March 21, 2024. This did not go down well with the veteran Hollywood director.

In an open letter written by Liman, as reported by Deadline, the 58-year-old explained why he was planning to miss his remake's premiere and wrote:

"When Road House opens the SXSW film festival, I won't be attending. The movie is fantastic, maybe my best, and I'm sure it will bring the house down and possibly have the audience dancing in their seats during the end credits. But I will not be there."

Liman continued:

"My plan had been to silently protest Amazon's decision to stream a movie so clearly made for the big screen. But Amazon is hurting way more than just me and my film. If I don't speak up about Amazon, who will?"

Nevertheless, Liman later changed his mind and was present on premiere day, where he received a standing ovation for his work.