As one of the tightest Oscar races in years intensifies, tension has been brewing behind the scenes over hotly tipped “12 Years a Slave” — the film that studio Paramount felt was unfairly given to a rival by Brad Pitt’s company.
The dispute erupted over the Steve McQueen movie when Paramount execs felt they should’ve been offered first crack at it under a long-standing “first-look deal” with Pitt’s Plan B. It was instead shopped to Arnon Milchan’s Regency Enterprises and distributed by Fox Searchlight.
The drama got so heated that Paramount’s legal team was ready to sue Pitt’s company, including partner Dede Gardner, over the film.
“Paramount is still upset because Dede didn’t offer ‘12 Years a Slave’ to them,” said a source. “They felt she purposefully didn’t give it to them, and then was bad-mouthing the studio all over town.”
Another Hollywood source said it took a détente between Paramount CEO Brad Grey and Pitt — plus an apology — to avoid legal action.
“Paramount’s lawyers wanted to sue,” the source said. “But Brad Grey stopped it because of his friendship with Pitt, his respect for McQueen and out of respect for their movie.” Also, “Pitt reached out to personally apologize to him.”
Grey — an original co-founder of Plan B with Pitt and Jennifer Aniston — and Pitt are still working together on a planned sequel to “World War Z” — the zombie epic that ran into budget problems during filming but wound up making $540 million worldwide. J.A. Bayona, director of the Naomi Watts tsunami drama “The Impossible,” signed on last month.
“12 Years a Slave” has nine Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture and Director. Paramount isn’t exactly licking its wounds, with 13 nominations of its own. Still, if “Slave” sweeps as expected, some at the studio could be biting their tongues. The first source added, “Some people there feel like they’ve been cheated out of an Oscar.” Plan B signed a three-year deal late last year with Regency after eight years at Paramount. Reps for all parties declined to comment.