Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Producers and Julie Taymor Reach Settlement in Musical's Suit

By Michael Gioia
30 Aug 2012

Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor
Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN

The producers of Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and Julie Taymor have reached a tentative deal settling a dispute over her role in the musical, according to the Associated Press.

Although settlement terms were not released, a document filed Aug. 30 in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan said the case could be reopened within two months if the agreement breaks down. A jury trial on the case was originally scheduled to start in early 2013.

According to the Associated Press, Dale Cendali, lead attorney for the producers, said she could not comment on the agreement except to confirm that it was reached. 

In November 2011, original Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark director Taymor filed a lawsuit against the producers of the musical claiming that the producers violated her creative rights and did not compensate her for her work on the musical.

In response to Taymor's suit, the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark filed an answer and countersuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the director and her company, LOH, Inc., in January 2012. The producers' counterclaims said that Taymor refused "to fulfill her contractual obligations, declaring that she could not and would not do the jobs that she was contracted to do."

The first oral arguments were made in the federal suit in June 2012. Read the earlier Playbill.com story for a complete timeline of the legal action involved with Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.