Hangover creators Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are credited as the writers and directors of the 2016 hit Bad Moms but a potentially multi-million dollar suit filed by the authors of I’d Trade My Husband For A Housekeeper is laying blame for fraud on producer Suzanne Todd.
“In 2008, Defendant contacted Plaintiffs after seeing them on The Today Show, informing them that they believed there was significant potential to develop their Books and genre insights into films and television series,” the 10-claim complaint from Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth submitted against the veteran producer in LA Superior Court on June 6 says. “Defendant’s use is indisputable as the Film uses themes and ideas expounded by Plaintiffs in their books and employs plots, scenes and various ideas Plaintiffs provided to Defendant during the Collaboration Period,” they add of the period up until 2011 when the duo and Todd were supposedly in constant contact.
“Defendant’s unlawful business practice of soliciting ideas and failing to pay for the use of such ideas and services resulted in ill-gotten gains when Defendant used the Results and Proceeds for the Film, Bad Moms and netted substantial profits,” the 16-page jury seeking filing declares of the over $180 million grossing STX film.
“The claim is ridiculous and will be defeated in court,” Todd’s attorney David L. Burg of LA’s Scheper Kim & Harris LLP said tersely. BTW – STX nor any one else is named as a defendant here but producer Todd.
In a 2017 interview just before sequel A Bad Moms Christmas came out, Todd said that she thought the inspiration from the films was “my experience and a lot of other people’s experience.” The Austin Powersand Alice In Wonderland producer also joked that Lucas and Moore really came to her for the bad dates part of the script.
A crack that Nobile and Ashworth likely wouldn’t be laughing at, then or now.
– Excerpt from an article written by Dominic Patten for Deadline. Find the full article here.
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