Spider-Man Producers File Countersuit Against Original Director Julie Taymor

In response to a lawsuit filed on November 8 by original Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark director Julie Taymor, the producers of the Broadway musical are countersuing Taymor and her company, LOH Inc. According to a news release, the producers claim that Taymor, who had been contracted to co-write as well as direct the musical, refused “to fulfill her contractual obligations, declaring that she could not and would not do the jobs that she was contracted to do.”

In one of the most unusual sagas ever played out on Broadway, Spider-Man previewed for seven months, closed for several weeks after Taymor’s departure in March and finally opened on June 14, 2011. “Creative consultant” Philip William McKinley and scriptwriter Roberto Aguirre Sacasa (who worked with original co-writer Glen Berger) guided the show to opening night, although Taymor will be eligible for a 2012 Best Director nomination, according to the Tony Awards administration committee.

Taymor’s lawsuit claims that the current production continues to use her work without compensating her for it. The producers responded that they “engaged in superhuman efforts to save the Musical” after Taymor’s departure, including investing additional millions of dollars in the show and hiring Aguirre-Sacasa “to write a new book for the Musical and to perform the services that Taymor was originally contracted to do…. As a result of all of the changes that Taymor could not and would not make, the Spider-Man Musical is now a hit.” Although Taymor “was well aware that a New Book was being implemented for the Musical” and “even was present on opening night when the New Book was performed,” at no point during that time “did Taymor ever indicate that she thought the New Book violated her rights or seek to enjoin the show,” according to the news release.

The producers also filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Inc., LOH, Inc. and Taymor in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in response to Taymor’s request to be paid “full royalties as director and collaborator despite the fact that Taymor caused numerous delays, drove up costs, and failed to direct a musical about Spider-Man that could open on Broadway.” The producers further allege that Taymor's suit is designed to enjoin future productions of the show in other venues.