On July 24, Sylvester Stallone, unhappy that his six-minute cameo in the Mafia-themed comedy was being promoted as a star turn, sued FM Productions, DEM Productions and producers Alan and Diane Mehrez, asking for a judge's order to stop distribution.
Now the production companies and producers have countersued Stallone (often referred to in their 50 page complaint as just "Sly"), and his tag-along brother, Frank, calling the siblings "gangsters in actors' clothing."
"The Stallone (brothers) have behaved like the gangsters they portray in The Good Life, using death threats, extortion, an abusive lawsuit and defamation to bully the Mehrezes into handing over control," the countersuit alleges.
The countersuit also refers to younger bro Frank--whose movie oeuvre includes Terror in Beverly Hills and Death Feud--as a no-talent. (Although Frank is listed as a co-producer of The Good Life, he was not named in Sly's suit). Frank also has a featured role in film, along with actors Dennis Hopper, Andrew "Dice" Clay and David Carradine.
The younger Stallone called the Mehrezes' charges "unfounded" and "speculative." The older Stallone said he was "shocked" about the charges. "I did nothing wrong...I am very confident that I will be vindicated in the courts," Sylvester said in a statement.
Sly--who signed on as a favor for his brother--worked one day on his monologue for scale pay. In exchange, according to Stallone's lawyer, Martin D. Singer, DEM agreed to limit use of the megastar's name and likeness in the credits and publicity.
But when Sly claimed to see his name prominently featured in advertising and promotional trailers, he filed suit, stating he would have demanded "no less than $20 million" if he had known he was going to be used as a star. His suit, filed in state court, was sent to federal court yesterday.
However, an executive at FM disputes those allegations. "We have never promoted this as a Sylvester Stallone film. We have scrupulously observed our contractual obligation regarding use of his name and likeness in marketing this picture," said Benjamin Rozwood, FM's executive vice president of business and legal affairs.
The erstwhile Rambo was also reportedly unhappy that The Good Life might detract from his chance of being taken seriously as an actor in Cop Land, the Miramax release opening Friday. In this movie, he plays the one good fella, a decent cop, alongside Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta.
(UPDATED 8/14/97 4:45 p.m. PT)