Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon has many fans excited to see the upcoming Netflix project. The film is expected to launch its own franchise and storyline not unlike the scale seen in Star Wars. However, it’s now been revealed that Netflix has received a lawsuit over Rebel Moon.
The lawsuit, as revealed via Variety, was filed by Evil Genius Games on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California, seeks unspecified monetary damages. As the publication notes:
“In a lawsuit, Evil Genius Games said it had begun working with Netflix in early 2023 to develop a tabletop role-playing game based on ‘Rebel Moon‘ with a delivery date to coincide with the first film’s streaming release on Dec. 22, 2023. Evil Genius paid Netflix for a license, with an agreement to share profits — but earlier this year, Netflix terminated the deal, alleging that Evil Genius violated confidentiality agreement for ‘Rebel Moon,'” as shared per the complaint.
At this time, the streaming home of Stranger Things, declined to comment, though Evil Genius CEO David Scott shared the following statement:
“Our aim is to ensure our team is recognized for their fantastic work, and that we can release this game for millions of [tabletop RPG] enthusiasts to enjoy,” Scott begins. “It’s disheartening to see Netflix backpedal on content that was jointly showcased and had received their prior consent. We urge our supporters to contact Netflix and Zack Snyder to push for the release of this game.”
According to the lawsuit, as further shared by Variety, “Evil Genius agreed to pay Netflix an upfront licensing fee of $7,500, followed by payments of $7,500 by Feb. 1, 2024, and $10,000 by Feb. 1, 2025, as well as to ‘share profits derived from the Licensed Articles with Netflix.”
Evil Genius Games’ work is said to have included “a 228-page World Bible (which vastly expanded on the universe envisioned by Snyder), a 430-page Player’s Guide and a 337-page Game Master’s Guide. According to the lawsuit, the initial script for ‘Rebel Moon‘ was ‘missing background information vital to the story as a whole and to the world,’ and Evil Genius filled in ‘all the missing pieces’ along with ‘a cohesive backstory for the entire Rebel Moon franchise.'”
After this, on May 25, 2023, “Netflix terminated the agreement with Evil Genius, claiming Evil Genius had violated confidentiality provisions in its contract by sharing artwork at an industry trade show one month earlier, according to the complaint. In the lawsuit, Evil Genius said the termination came as a surprise because it had sent the artwork to Netflix in advance of the event, the Game Manufacturers Association Exposition (GAMA), and Netflix had approved its use. Documents containing the artwork were handed out to retailers at GAMA by Evil Genius’ staff and two Netflix employees, the lawsuit asserts.”
The lawsuit also adds that “Netflix notified Evil Genius that all of its work on the project ‘belongs solely and exclusively to Netflix.” As shared by the suit:
“It became clear that Netflix was simply using the alleged breach and termination to hijack [Evil Genius’] intellectual property and prevent [Evil Genius] from releasing the game.”
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates on Netflix‘s Rebel Moon or this lawsuit as we have them.