‘War Dogs’ creators in battle over rights to true story of gunrunner
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The common Hollywood contention of whether a film is a true story or based on a true story is the basis for a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over its 2016 comedic drama “War Dogs,” which chronicles the tale of two young men who land a $300 million government arms contract.
The studio asked a federal judge on Thursday to dismiss the suit filed by real-life gunrunner Efraim Diveroli in June.
According to media reports, Mr. Diveroli was in prison when director Todd Phillips, named in the lawsuit, optioned a Rolling Stone magazine story about his life. Among the casualties were the young dealer’s plans to make a film based on his own manuscript.
Meanwhile, ‘War Dogs’ creators are fighting back with the first amendment.
"No one owns the historical facts recounted in such movies, and moviemakers have broad artistic license to dramatize stories 'based on' true events," writes attorney Matthew Klein in a motion filed Thursday in Florida federal court, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The lawsuit, accessed by the entertainment news site, says War Dogs is “a knowingly false portrayal of Diveroli‘s real story that has been misleadingly sold to consumers as the unadulterated truth, because Warner Bros. knows that audiences are drawn to true stories.”
