Will Smith’s production company, Overbrook Entertainment, and Warner Bros. have reached a settlement after being sued over their upcoming biopic, King Richard, based on Serena and Venus Williams’ father, Richard Williams.
In court docs obtained by 360aproko, Warner Bros., Overbrook, Williams and his son and business partner Chavoita Lesane, and production company Star Thrower Entertainment (as well as its executives Timothy and Trevor White) “have entered into a settlement” with TW3 Entertainment and Power Move Multi Media, who are “dismissing their claims against defendants with prejudice.”
The two parties, however, ask the court retain “jurisdiction over the Parties to enforce the payment term in the settlement.” 360aproko has reached out to Smith for comment.
As 360aproko reported in June, TW3 Entertainment and Power Move Multi Media claimed that they were the true owners of the tennis coach’s life rights.
TW3 Entertainment and Power Move Multimedia claimed they were the true owners of Williams’ story because they bought the rights to his 2014 memoir, Black and White: The Way I See It, in 2017. In court docs obtained by 360aproko at the time, they claimed they bought the rights from Lesan, who allegedly had been given power of attorney by his father for “purposes of dealing with film and media rights for his book.” Lesane was allegedly involved in an initial draft of a script for the project too. Williams later sold the rights to his life for King Richard for $1 million.
