John Singleton Sues Paramount over ‘Hustle and Flow’ Deal
In the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Singleton, who produced the Craig Brewer-directed drama, says he entertained multiple distribution offers for the film after it premiered to raves at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
He signed a $9 million deal with Paramount, he claims, because the studio promised to “put” two additional features as long as their budgets didn’t exceed $3.5 million each and his producing fee wasn’t higher than 7.5 percent. (Singleton also granted the studio rights to Brewer’s “Black Snake Moan.’) “Hustle and Flow” made $22 million worldwide and won an Oscar for best song (Moan made about $10 million) but Singleton says Paramount later backed out of the “put” agreement by adding conditions that made it impossible to get the movies made.
