'Napoleon Dynamite' Producers Want More of That Cash
"Vote for Pedro" t-shirt sales kept the Napoleon Dynamite coffers filled for a while, but as the nation's Hot Topics stop re-ordering, producers of the sleeper hit need to look for new ways to wring some income out of Jon Heder's hair pile. What they've come up with: suing Fox Searchlight for $10 million. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Napoleon Pictures claims the distribution company underreported royalties and took improper deductions from profits, robbing them of the millions they would seemed to be owed judging by the sheer number of college kids who had Napoleon Dynamite listed as a favorite movie on MySpace. Also:
In addition to understating Napoleon's home video royalties, the audit also revealed that Fox has breached the agreement in multiple other respects, including without limitation by underreporting pay television license fees, failing to report electronic sell-through revenue, charging residuals on home video sales, as well as overcharging residuals on home video sales, deducting a number of costs and charges it has no right to deduct and/or for which there is no supporting documentation.
Not really funny, but it's slightly more quotable if you read it in Napoleon Dynamite's voice.
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