Disney's Dumpster Fire Movie Draws Lawsuit After Alleged Dirty Trick Discovered in Commercial
Disney had great hopes that its latest Indiana Jones action flick would be just the ticket for summer moviegoers. Not only has that hope faded as the film fails to draw fans, but the movie is now at the center of a lawsuit.
Before it even hit theaters, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” faced criticism for seeming to set up a scolding “girl boss” as Jones’ successor for future films.
The movie hasn’t even come close to making back its massive budget in its three weeks in theaters. It also got mixed reviews and is sitting at an anemic 69 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The weak debut of the fifth Indiana Jones film has been an utter disaster for Disney. “Dial of Destiny” has become a major flop even as a small faith-based film, “Sound of Freedom,” swoops in to clean up at the box office.
But Disney, which seems to be losing money at every turn these days, is in even more trouble because of “Indiana Jones and the Dumpster Fire of Destiny.”
The entertainment giant is now facing a lawsuit over a backpack worn by Indy in the film.
Outdoor clothing and equipment company Frost River Trading Co. filed the lawsuit on Wednesday accusing Lucasfilm — a subsidiary of Disney — of using its product without permission.
Worse, the company alleges that the studio tried to pass the backpack off as the product of one of Frost River’s competitors, Filson.
“This lawsuit concerns two corporate juggernauts, Filson and Lucasfilm, exploiting the hard work and intellectual property of Frost River, a small American company,” the filing states.
The suit claims promotional material for the movie made in cooperation with Filson briefly features a Frost River backpack.
“Lucasfilm and Filson produced a 60 second commercial prominently featuring video clips from the Indiana Jones 5 film intertwined with video clips of actors using Filson’s own products,” the complaint says. “Shockingly, one of the intertwined video clips was one from Indiana Jones 5 featuring Frost River’s Geologist Pack.”
Frost River says the spot violates the Lanham Act, a federal trademark law.
“Liability under the Lanham Act for misappropriating Frost River’s products is a boulder that Lucasfilm and Filson cannot dodge.”
The company is asking for $75,000, which certainly isn’t going to break the bank if Disney ends up losing the suit.
But with the Mouse House losing nearly $1 billion in the last year, every little bit hurts.
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