After years of protracted authorized turmoil within the Ramones property, the way forward for Netflix‘s movie adaptation of Mickey Leigh’s memoir “I Slept With Joey Ramone” with Pete Davidson hooked up to star could possibly be unsure, on account of a brand new arbitration that additionally noticed a director of the groundbreaking punk-rock group’s mother or father firm eliminated.
The choice was a authorized victory for Linda Cummings-Ramone, who’s Johnny Ramone’s widow, as Ramones Productions Inc. director David Frey was ordered to be eliminated as director of RPI instantly and can’t be reelected to the identical publish once more for 5 years. Frey beforehand managed Low-cost Trick for a few years however cut up acrimoniously with the band in 2013 — taking founding drummer Bun E. Carlos with him, as the 2 sued the three different bandmembers for lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} in allegedly unpaid touring charges and different bills.
In a press release shared with Billboard, Cummings-Ramone mentioned she was “thrilled” and that they “will now lastly be capable of transfer ahead and create and broaden the legacy of the perfect band ever.” “Preserving this legacy is not only a duty however a deeply private mission for me,” reads the assertion. “I’ve devoted my life to honoring and safeguarding the extraordinary contributions my husband and his band have made to music, tradition and the lives of tens of millions around the globe.”
Netflix initially introduced the Ramones movie as a collaboration with STXfilms in 2021, with Jason Orley set to direct and co-write the script with Davidson. Earlier this yr, Cummings-Ramone filed a lawsuit in opposition to Frey and Leigh (aka Mitchel Hyman), Joey Ramone’s brother, that claimed he “covertly developed an unapproved and unauthorized Ramones-based biopic” with out her permission.
After she filed within the go well with in January, Frey and Leigh fired again with a countersuit in March stating that she was attempting to “set up herself because the Queen of the Ramones” and insisted the biopic was not a band tell-all, however quite an adaptation of a household memoir. The purpose of competition is {that a} movie primarily based on “I Slept With Joey Ramone” would cannibalize an official biopic of the legendary punk rock band, and that the ebook adaptation would inevitably be a Ramones film.
On Tuesday, a New York arbitrator granted Cummings-Ramone’s request to take away Frey as director of RPI, figuring out that Frey “breached his obligation of care, honesty and loyalty, in failing to current the STX/Netflix deal to Ms. Cummings-Ramone and/or the Board of RPI for his or her approval.”
Whereas it’s doable the movie might proceed by means of additional negotiation, the choice in opposition to Frey places a pace bump on the trail to the biopic coming to fruition.
Cummings-Ramone and Leigh are the only real shareholders of RPI, which manages all features of the Ramones’ enterprise dealings, and have been in authorized competition for years concerning the event of a Ramones biopic. Way back to 2006, discussions of a movie have been within the works with Cummings-Ramone consenting to potential manufacturing of the film. Cummings-Ramone’s lawsuit from earlier this yr claimed that Leigh had decidedly green-lit a biopic primarily based on his “one-sided recitation of the historical past of the Ramones.”
Round 2019 and 2020, STX negotiated agreements for the rights to develop and produce a movie primarily based on Leigh’s ebook “I Slept With Joey Ramone,” which was printed in 2009. STX introduced the undertaking to Netflix with the understanding that it wouldn’t be a “Ramones film” or “Ramones Bio-pic,” and wouldn’t be marketed as such. In June 2022, Leigh’s lawyer requested Cummings-Ramone’s lawyer to share correspondence concerning the Netflix movie being made, to which they responded that Frey will “instantly attain out to Netflix and [redacted] to (1) remind them the undertaking is a Mickey/Joey undertaking and never a Ramones film because the [redacted] e-mail counsel is the main focus or (2) shut it down solely.”
Frey disputed that he had something to do with the Netflix movie, although the arbitrator in yesterday’s determination decided that there’s “little doubt that he was totally conscious that such a movie would inevitably embrace music/songs from the Ramones” and cited emails he had despatched over the previous three years confirming his consciousness. The arbitration acknowledged that Frey was “deeply concerned on this film undertaking” and “well-aware of his obligation to acquire Ms. Cummings-Ramone’s consent and/or that of the Board of Administrators earlier than agreeing to this undertaking, significantly as there isn’t a doubt that no matter else it claimed to be it could undoubtedly embrace Ramones’ recordings.”
