Robert De Niro has joined the list of major film industry figures who are owed large sums of money by the Weinstein Company, it has been claimed.
According to documents obtained by The Blast, De Niro says he has not been paid $940,000 (Dh3 million) due to him for his work on Silver Linings Playbook, the 2012 romantic comedy backed by the Weinstein Company, for which De Niro was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar.
De Niro’s claim is part of the Weinstein Company’s bankruptcy proceedings, as a result of which Hollywood A-listers such as Meryl Streep, George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino say they are owed considerable amounts. Tarantino’s claim is for nearly $4m, while Streep and Clooney are claiming for work done on August: Osage County.
The Weinstein Company is in the process of selling its assets to private equity firm Lantern Capital, and recently announced it was dropping the purchase price by $23m, to $287m, to complete the sale. The move has caused alarm among creditors, who fear they will not receive the payments they are owed after their contracts are transferred to Lantern.
In addition, a number of performers have registered concern that the contract transfer will render image rights and image approval agreements invalid. Julia Roberts says she was given 100 per cent control of any photographs used of her, as well as likenesses used in merchandising and sequels. Streep claims to have a similar agreement.
