Stan Lee Media, Inc. files suit against 'Conan' by Annie Barrett

Aug 22 2011

by Annie Barrett

Categories: Conan the Barbarian

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Image Credit: Chris Hatcher/PR Photos; Brian Andrew Mendoza

Stan Lee Media, Inc., a company founded by comic book legend Stan Lee, wants a judge to rule that it is still the rightful owner of the character Conan the Barbarian [NS: not creator Robert E. Howard's estate?].

In a lawsuit filed Aug. 19 in federal court in L.A. and obtained by EW, SLMI is demanding 100 percent of the film’s proceeds.

The company claims its bankruptcy in 2001 would have prevented anyone from taking the rights to the Conan character away. In the suit, Stan Lee Media, Inc. claims the company was betrayed by a former lawyer who made an illegal deal to transfer the rights to another company that would later green-light this summer’s Conan movie [starring Jason Momoa].

The poorly reviewed remake earned $10 million on its opening weekend, barely beating the debut of the original Conan the Barbarian in 1982.

[NS: Yeah, but I still want to see it; critics are often WRONG or too stupid to recuse themselves from giving their prejudiced opinion; when they know they hate an actor or the character.

The old film Conan's not the ultimate, not for me. I read the books and comics. The best thing was James Earl Jones and dancer Sandahl Bergman from 1982.]