Genre-related Lawsuits Against Spielberg In The Early 80's.

[swr2777]

Hey, everyone! I've got a question here that I was hoping somebody could answer. I'm sure we all remember how, in the early 80s, there were a slew of lawsuits against Steven Spielberg, many of them somehow related to the horror, sci-fi, or fantasy genres. Presumably the most notorious of them involved the whole tragedy of Vic Morrow's death during the shoot of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, and also THE ENTITY writer Frank DeFelitta protesting the similarities between his own screenplay and that of POLTERGEIST. I also recall a legal dispute between Rick Baker and Spielberg regarding designs for an alien flick called NIGHT SKIES that would eventually become E.T.

I'm curious about another one that I can't seem to find any info on. Apparently, actor Paul Clemens (THE BEAST WITHIN) also sued Spielberg for something at that time. Does anyone know what that was regarding? A casting or contract dispute perhaps? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Chet Desmond]

Paul Clemens also pursued legal action about the "Poltergeist" He claimed he submitted a screenplay to Spielberg about a haunted house (called "Housebound" I think) and alot of his ideas ended up in "Poltergeist". I remember reading about this in Fangoria years ago but I never heard how it all turned out.

[swr2777]

Thanks so much for the info!! That makes total sense! I knew Clemens had written and created artwork for Famous Monsters of Filmland around that time, so it makes sense that he would have perhaps written a horror screenplay. I might just have to seek some of those Fangorias to get the full scoop from back then.

Thanks again for the info!

[David666]

This is interesting. I love it when ther is little informative threads like this. Thanks guys.