In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, “The Nun” actress Bonnie Aarons has accused Warner Bros. Entertainment, New Line Cinema and Scope Productions, LLC of breach of contract according to THR.
According to the complaint, the studios allegedly entered into an agreement with Aarons to play the demonic nun character in “The Conjuring” franchise spin-off. For her work, she scored $71,500, but her contract included a $175,000 bonus tied to box office performance and also required Ms. Aarons would receive a share of Warner’s gross receipts from merchandise exploiting her likeness.
The suit states: “Instead of accounting and paying in a transparent fashion, Warner Bros. obscures and hides the true amount of Ms. Aarons’ rightful share of merchandising revenues, all while continuing to exploit her.”
The suit alleges Warners sent her representatives a number of written statements showing the actress’ share of merchandising revenue, “but which were inconsistent with the extensive merchandising activities by Warner Bros. for Ms. Aarons’ character.” Subsequent efforts to get more sufficient documentation were allegedly not answered ‘substantively’.
The complaint cites breach of contract, ‘breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing’, and accounting. The Nun character has appeared in various merchandise for the film including: “toys, dolls, decorations, pins, jewellery, T-shirts, socks, bedding, costumes, drinkware “.
Her likeness is front and center in the promotional material for the first film and the upcoming release of “The Nun II” on September 8th. The first “The Nun” film made $365 million worldwide.
Source: THR
