Earlier this week, Italian movie company Cecchi Gori Pictures sued the Oscar-winning filmmaker for starting to file “The Wolf of Wall Street” on Thursday instead of the movie “Silence.” According to the Italian company, Scorsese had agreed with them to put “Silence” ahead of other projects and to get into production before the end of 2012.
The lawsuit alleging breach of contract has been filed in Los Angeles and the lawsuit claims Martin and his company owes Cecchi Gori an amount of $1.5 million plus 20 percent of other fees Scorsese received from making movies that were put ahead of “Silence” by him.
In a statement, Scorsese’s representatives said, “It is shocking to us that the lawyers for Cecchi Gori Pictures would file a suit pursuing such absurd claims considering the amicable working relationship existing between Martin Scorsese and the principals of Cecchi Gori Pictures … Mr. Scorsese is confident that he will prevail in court should Cecchi Gori Pictures actually pursue this meritless action.”
Cecchi Gori Pictures is owned by Italian media mogul Vittorio Cecchi Gori, and the present lawsuit includes several agreements between Scorsese and Gori that date back to the 1980s. They had begun discussing the “Silence” project in the 80’s, but even after Gori spent more than $750,000 in developing the movie, it has continually been put off over the last 30 years. Now, it seems Gori’s patience has run out.
However, the chief executive officer of Ccchi Gori Pictures told the Los Angeles Times that the suit has been filed to get clarification on when Scorsese might finally begin on the project and said “we’re hoping to resolve it amicably.”