Bay Area filmmaker of a Sundance hit being sued for ‘blatant rip-off'
Filmmaker and actor Dave Franco and his actress wife Alison Brie have been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit over their buzzy Sundance Film Festival horror film 'Together.'
The suit, filed Tuesday, May 13, in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, says the couple's film is a 'blatant rip-off' of 'Better Half,' a 2023 independent film. Both movies play off the concept of a couple being physically fused together, and the suit alleges other plot and thematic elements in 'Together,' including a 'near verbatim' reference to Plato's Symposium, were lifted from the earlier film.
'Together' writer-director Michael Shanks, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment — which represents Franco and Brie — and Neon, the distributor which acquired 'Together' for $17 million out of Sundance, were also named as defendants.
The plaintiff was listed as Studiofest, the production company of 'Better Half,' which was written and directed by Patrick Henry Phelan.
The lawsuit also alleges that the casting director of 'Better Half' sent the script to Franco and Brie's agents at WME in August 2020 with an offer to star, but were turned down.
A WME spokesperson told Variety that the suit is 'frivolous and without merit,' adding 'The facts in this case are clear and we plan to vigorously defend ourselves.'
Franco, the 39-year-old brother of actor James Franco, is an alum of Palo Alto High School. He married Brie, 42, in 2017, and they have co-starred in four movies. Most recently, Franco directed the 2023 romantic comedy ' Somebody I Used to Know,' in which Brie was the lead.
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