Mike Tyson’s Former Friend Nearly Doomed Warner Bros $586 Million Movie

Mike Tyson has had a great professional boxing career whose GOAT skills were responsible for his title, The Baddest Man on the Planet. Since leaving his GOAT career, he also appeared in several films like The Hangover (2009), The Hangover 2 (2011), Scary Movie 5 (2013), Ip Man 3 (2015), and Entourage (2015).

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While his roles in famous films got recognized, his Hangover 2 project met with several setbacks before its release. One of the setbacks happened when his former friend filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. to stop the film from getting released at the time.

Warner Bros Sued by Mike Tyson’s Tattoo Artist Over The Hangover 2

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Back in 2011, Warner Bros project, The Hangover: Part II faced a major lawsuit over a facial tattoo of Ed Helms’ character.

An award-winning tattoo artist, S. Victor Whitmill who was the man behind Mike Tyson‘s iconic facial art filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Warner Brothers. He alleged that the tattoo worn by Helms in the film duplicated Tyson’s tattoo without asking for his consent to use his artwork.

Whitmill’s official complaint as per his attorney stated,

“When Mr. Whitmill created the Original Tattoo, Mr Tyson agreed that Mr. Whitmill would own the artwork and thus, the copyright in the Original Tattoo.”

The artist sought a preliminary injunction, which if had been granted, would have jeopardized the then-highly anticipated film release. At that point, there was nothing that the company could do to alter or edit the tattoo on Helms’ character. However, it was eventually solved as his lawsuit would have greatly impacted the franchise as well as third parties who were involved in the film.

At the time Whitmill sought to halt the film’s release, the company had cashed out nearly $80 million on its promotion. Had the court agreed on the injunction, those theaters which were actively promoting the film and selling reserved tickets would have ended up in a major loss.

The Hangover II’s Lawsuit by Tattoo Artist Eventually Got Settled Out of Court!

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While the lawsuit could have put the film into a major issue given that the marketing posters and trailers were already released, a settlement was eventually reached.

It was reported that Whitmil and his lawyers had a long mediation with WB’s legal team for a whole day before eventually settling the lawsuit outside the court. While the terms were not disclosed, the plaintiff’s attorney Geoff Gerber told The Hollywood Reporter,

“Warner Bros. and Mr. Whitmill have amicably resolved their dispute. No other information will be provided.”

The tattoo artist was made to sign an NDA by the company. The film was eventually released on May 26, 2011, receiving mixed reviews, grossing $586.8 million worldwide.

Source: THR