Plum Suit against Leo and Tobey Squashed
As of now, Don's Plum is going to remain an IMDb footnote.
A Los Angeles judge has dismissed the lawsuit brought by one of the indie film's producers against Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio, who costarred in the 1996 film before either had spun a radioactive web or set sail aboard the Titanic.
John Schindler sued the pair in December 2004, claiming they had used their star power to "put the word out that they were opposed to any distribution" of Don's Plum, which also starred Jeremy Sisto, Kevin Connolly and a pre-Buffy Amber Benson.
Offers from potential distributors "disappeared overnight," Schindler stated in his suit.
Attorneys for the warring camps argued their case Sept. 27. Schindler's lawyer, Tristam Buckley, said his client filed suit "because a little guy didn't think he should get [cheated]."
Meanwhile, Maguire and DiCaprio's legal eagle, John Lavely, stated in court papers that David Stutman was the actual producer of Don's Plum—according to IMDb, Schindler served as a line producer—and that Schindler's complaint had arrived too late, after the requisite statute of limitations had run out.
(Stutman, on the other hand, sued DiCaprio and Maguire in 1998, alleging they purposely tried to keep the film out of theaters, and reached a settlement with them in 1999. The director agreed to keep the film out of the U.S. and Canada, although bootleg copies and Websites like YouTube and eBay made that difficult.)
Lavely also pointed out that Schindler had amended his suit three times since filing it two years ago.
Judge Mary Ann Murphy ruled Thursday that Schindler could make no further changes and then she tossed the case. Neither Lavely nor Buckley could be reached for comment.
Not that Maguire and DiCaprio really wanted anyone to see Don's Plum, though.
Like a scene right out of Entourage, the former party pals sued Schindler in August 2004 to prevent him from releasing the low-budget movie in the U.S., saying they appeared in the film as a "favor" to writer-director R.D. Robb.
The actors alleged they had thought the picture, about a group of existentially bummed-out L.A. 20-somethings who meet up in a diner to discuss their beefs with the world, would never be released.
Schindler, meanwhile, told E! Online at the time that he had "personally explained to Leo and Tobey and the rest of the cast and crew that [his] intention was for this to be a real commercial film."
Apparently it really wasn't much of anything. Variety called the 89-minute black and white drama an "unpleasant and tedious ensemble."
But, no worries, DiCaprio and Maguire have bounced back from their foray into the art house.
DiCaprio is a multiple Golden Globe nominee this year, with his performances in Blood Diamond and The Departed squaring off against each other in the Best Actor, Drama category. And Maguire, who's currently starring alongside George Clooney in The Good German, has once again donned his superhero duds and will swing into theaters in Spider Man 3 on May 4.
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