Rough Sailing For Perfect Storm
A lawsuit filed by the families of fishermen and others portrayed in last summer's movie "The Perfect Storm" can go to trial, a judge ruled.
Jodi Tyne, former wife of captain Frank William "Billy" Tyne Jr., and her two daughters sued Warner Bros. and the two companies that produced the film. The lawsuit - filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando in August - says the movie cast Billy Tyne in a negative light and was produced without the families' consent.
Time Warner Inc., then parent company of Warner Bros., asked a judge to dismiss the case, saying it had the right to make the movie.
Judge Anne C. Conway denied the company's motion and cleared the way for a trial next June, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported in its Tuesday editions.
Jodi Tyne, of Bradenton, Florida, said she and her daughters should get a cut of the film's $100 million in ticket sales. The lawsuit claims the movie falsely depicts Billy Tyne, played by George Clooney, as an "unprofessional, unseaworthy and incompetent" captain who suffers a "self-imposed death."
Jerilynn M. Amrhein joined the lawsuit in October on behalf of her son, whose father, Dale "Murph" Murphy, was portrayed in the movie by John C. Reilly. Doug Kosko and Debra J. Tigue also joined the lawsuit, disputing the way they were depicted.
The lawsuit also names Baltimore-Spring Creek Pictures and Radiant Productions as defendants.
The film, based on the book by the same name by author Sebastian Junger, is an account of Billy Tyne's final swordfishing expedition in October 1991 into the heart of storms that converged in the North Atlantic.
Billy Tyne and five crew members on the Gloucester, Mass.-based boat drowned, and the boat, the Andrea Gail, was never found.
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