Benedict Cumberbatch’s production company SunnyMarch is facing legal trouble. The company, whose directors are Cumberbatch and producing partner Adam Ackland, has been sued over the rights to a Roald Dahl script.
In 2019, SunnyMarch entered a co-production agreement with Portobello Productions to adapt the acclaimed author’s novelDanny the Champion of the Worldinto a feature film. Besides serving as producer,Cumberbatch was also set to starin the film as William, Danny’s father —though the role was subjected to the actor’s approval and availability.
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Per Variety, Portobello alleges in their lawsuit that, after hiring and paying screenwriter David Nicholls to pen the script’s first draft, they stopped hearing from Cumberbatch and Ackland. However, both men continued working on multiple other projects, includingSpider-Man: No Way HomeandThe Power of the Dog, the latter of which got Cumberbatch nominated for an Academy Award. According to the agreement, both parties were to hire a director to work with Nicholls and revise the script before seeking financing and talent, yet “no material progress has been made in the development of the Film,” the lawsuit alleges. “The parties have not engaged a director and no revised first draft of the Screenplay has been produced,” the document adds.
The agreement also stated that Portobello was entitled to terminate the contract and reacquire the rights to Nicholls' script if Cumberbatch or SunnyMarch had not managed to approve the revised script within 12 months or if the parties couldn’t get financing. Moreover, Portobello could terminate the agreement if Cumberbatch and Ackland stopped owning SunnyMarch or its holding company, SunnyMarch Holdings Limited.
In December 2021, Portobello sent out a notice stating that it was terminating the contract and taking back the rights of the Roald Dahl adaptation. SunnyMarch’s lawyers replied in January and alleged that Portobello wasn’t authorized to terminate the agreement. Now, Portobello is asking the court to declare that the contract has been terminated and SunnyMarch has no further rights or connection to the project. Cumberbatch’s company has yet to file a defense.
Meanwhile, Cumberbatch is busy with all the anticipation surrounding the upcoming release ofDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Filming started in November 2020 but was put on hold due to COVID-19 before resuming production in March 2021.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessis now scheduled to be released in the US on June 21, 2025.
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