Mel Gibson Loses Court Battle Over The Rights To 'The Professor And The Madman'

Terry Gilliam isn’t the only filmmaker fighting over the rights to a long-in-development film. We’ve covered the drama surrounding “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” quite extensively over the last few months, but somehow the drama between Mel Gibson and Voltage Pictures has slipped by us.

READ MORE: Terry Gilliam Loses His ‘Don Quixote’ Court Case And No Longer Holds The Rights To The Film

If you’re not aware, Gibson has been involved in a bitter legal feud between his Icon production company and Voltage over the rights to the film titled “The Professor and the Madman.” The suit claims that Voltage failed to live up to an agreement, and therefore, should forfeit the rights to the film. Gibson, along with director Farad Safinia, has been filing suits, with Voltage claiming that the two men are attempting to “hijack control” of the film.

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the most recent legal ruling agrees with Voltage. Well, sort of. The Los Angeles judge ruled that Gibson had failed to show adequate proof that Voltage had breached their contract, thus the rights of the film are retained by Voltage.

Believe it or not, this whole battle is the result of one scene. “The Professor and the Madman” is a film about the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary, and Gibson, Safinia, and partner Bruce Davey all wanted a pivotal scene to be shot in Oxford, England. However, Voltage had the shot planned for Ireland, with 200 extras and completed sets. Voltage claims that moving the scene would have cost an exorbitant amount of money and the film would have added days to the already overbudget shoot.

According to the report, things got worse when Safinia turned in a directors cut of 2 hours and 40 minutes. However, Voltage wanted it shorter, obviously, and the resulting 2 hour cut of the film wasn’t “strong.” Things deteriorated from there, with new filmmakers coming in for post-production. Needless to say, this was a troubled production.

However, it appears that Voltage is the victor presently, with Gibson and Safinia left out in the cold.