Plaintiffs Drop Lawsuit Against Julie Taymor's "Midsummer Night's Dream" Film Producer | Playbill

News Plaintiffs Drop Lawsuit Against Julie Taymor's "Midsummer Night's Dream" Film Producer Just days after filing a lawsuit against the producer of "Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream," the plaintiffs announced that they have unilaterally withdrawn the suit. The film's planned June 15 premiere and June 22 nationwide screening will go ahead as scheduled.

The Lion King director's imaginative rethinking of Shakespeare's classic was filmed before a live audience during its 2014 run at Theatre For A New Audience in Brooklyn.

Artful Dodgers in Performance and the Theatre for a New Audience had filed suit in New York federal court June 9 saying they were suing film producer Ben Latham-Jones and Londinium Films for breach of contract and fraud, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The suit claimed that Latham had effectively "disappeared," leaving some $500,000 in bills unpaid.

Taymor herself was not a party to the suit.

Thursday evening Theatre for a New Audience shared the following statement with Playbill.com: "Artful Dodgers in Performance and Theatre for a New Audience are at this time unilaterally withdrawing their complaint against film producer Ben Latham-Jones regarding the film version of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' The plaintiffs look forward to a speedy and amicable resolution of the dispute.

"Theatre for a New Audience, which originally produced the stage version of Julie's Taymor's acclaimed 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' looks forward to working with the film's producer, distributor and director to support the premiere of this wonderful film. "Artful Dodgers in Performance and Theatre for a New Audience want to reiterate that Ms. Taymor was never a party to the complaint. She is neither a plaintiff or a defendant. She is a brilliant and extraordinary artist with whom they have had a long and successful collaboration and hope to continue to do so in the future. They are now looking forward to the film’s premiere on June 15, and then nationwide release on June 22 by Fathom Events."

"Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream" is scheduled to premiere June 15 in New York and to be screened June 22 at selected cinemas across the U.S. See the recently released trailer below.

All showings are scheduled for 7 PM local time. For locations or to buy tickets, visit FathomEvents.com. Tickets will also be sold at participating cinema box offices.

Taymor, who is known for her Tony Award-winning staging of The Lion King on Broadway, also has worked extensively in film ("Frida," "The Magic Flute," "Across The Universe," "Titus").

"Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream" bowed at last year's Toronto International Film Festival. The cast includes David Harewood ("Homeland," "Blood Diamond"), Kathryn Hunter ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"), Tina Benko ("The Avengers") and Max Casella ("Blue Jasmine").

Here is the trailer for the film:

 
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