Sky Group filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros., accusing the studio of violating the partnership agreement: the film company decided to remain exclusively with the production of the television series based on the Harry Potter universe, promised until 2026.
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In a lawsuit filed in federal court in New York, Sky claims that not co-producing the TV series would cost the group “hundreds of millions of dollars,” the Financial Times and Variety have learned. The service accuses studios of deliberately avoiding partnerships to solely benefit financially from a potential hit.
“The reason why Warner failed to fulfill its obligations to Sky could not be clearer,” the lawsuit states. “Warner has decided to stick with the Harry Potter series and make the blockbuster the cornerstone of its own box office in Europe.”
As part of the agreement, Sky will have to participate in the creation of up to four series a year for audiences in the UK and Europe, which the service will co-finance through a 20-25% payment. According to the agreement attached to the lawsuit, the company allocated at least $40 million in the first year of the contract and committed to increasing the share to $100 million by 2025.
However, Sky claims that Warner Bros. has not met the terms of the agreement for two years. Despite this, group CEO Dana Strong said at a conference in June that the companies were discussing how to extend their relationship beyond the expiration of the contract (end of 2025).
Now, a lawsuit filed in court shows that the partnership has run out of steam. The conflict had been brewing since Warner Bros. announced plans to launch rival streaming service Max in Europe. And the situation with the Potter series was the last straw.
Sky’s lawsuit accuses Warner Bros. The series was publicly announced in April 2023, so the project should have been subject to the agreement. According to the service, Sky management even made a request to Warner Bros.
Those responsible for the project responded that the series has not finally received the green light, so it cannot be the subject of discussion within the framework of the association. At the same time, throughout this time news continued to emerge about the casting and replacement of the series’ creative team.
In response to Sky’s lawsuit, Warner Bros. said it sees the service’s actions as just “a baseless attempt by Sky and Comcast to gain leverage” in negotiations over the studio’s plans after 2025.
“We know that HBO-branded programs are critical to Sky, as evidenced by their commitment for over a year to finding a way to extend our agreements, and this lawsuit makes clear that Sky is deeply concerned about the viability of its business. if we lose our business.” award-winning content,” Variety quoted a WB representative as saying.
The studio intends to “vigorously defend” its interests against attacks and has no intention of suspending the launch of Max and production of the new HBO series Harry Potter in 2026.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
