Producers win Last Samurai court case
Producers behind Tom Cruise's 2003 blockbuster The Last Samurai have won a legal battle against two screenwriter brothers who alleged their idea for the film was stolen.
Writers Aaron and Matthew Benay filed suit in 2005, insisting a script they wrote in 2000, also called The Last Samurai, was used as a template for the hit Cruise movie.
Film executives Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick disputed the
brothers' claims that they had sent a script to their production
company Bedford Falls, and, after a seven-day jury trial in Los
Angeles, they were vindicated of the accusations on Friday
(06Apr12).
Herskovitz tells The Hollywood Reporter, "Ed and I are extremely
relieved. It's hard to live under a cloud of false accusations for
so many years. The fact that the jury said we never even saw the
script - justice has been done."