5. Coming To America
Coming to America had quite the buzz going for it, on screen and off screen. Produced for just $39 million, it made nearly $300 million worldwide. Behind the scenes however, lawyers were having it out over who stole the film’s idea from whom.
The judge ruled against the film’s producers and studio by stating that they had, in fact, stole the idea from writer Art Buchwald, and now had to pay him in royalties. But because the studio claimed that they spent so much on “development,” the film had actually made no money.
Having the judge rule against them and fearing that the negative buzz may give rise to other people who’ve been screwed by the ‘net profit’ formula, the film studio eventually settled with Buchwald. By “settled,” we mean they paid Buchwald just under $1 million in hush-hush money to never bother them again.
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