Warner Bros. Could Lose $900 Million Over ‘The Conjuring’ Legal Battle

Earlier this year, The Conjuring passed a major milestone, with the film and its spinoffs and sequels grossing more than $1 billion worldwide. Unfortunately for the series’ studio, Warner Bros., they might be forced to pay $900 million of those profits to Gerald Brittle, an author who claims he owned the rights to any film inspired by the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The four films in the world of The Conjuring explore the events experienced by renowned demonologists the Warrens, ranging from haunted houses and spectral tormentors to possessed dolls. Brittle wrote 1980’s book The Demonologist that detailed the couple’s mission and the adventures they embarked upon. The author claims that he made an exclusive agreement with the Warrens that prohibited them from making deals to turn their adventures into films without his consent.

In addition to claiming the Warrens required consent from him before making agreements about films, Brittle alleges he was granted exclusive rights to option the case files as he saw fit. Brittle’s lawsuit claims that, despite being aware of the situation, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema began making deals with the Warrens in the ’90s to obtain rights to their stories, in addition to solidifying the deal over rights in 2011 about films that would be the inspiration for The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, and Annabelle. Brittle is claiming copyright infringement, trespass to chattels, conversion, conspiracy and more.

Warner Bros.’ defense is that no one can retain exclusive rights to adapt the story of real-life figures into any medium and that any agreements made in 1980 would be subject to statutes of limitation.

Unfortunately for the studio, U.S. District Court Judge John Gibney Jr. is ready to take the allegations to the next step.

“The Court declines the parties’ invitation to wade into the truth or falsity of the Warrens’ paranormal escapades or to parse the resulting similiarities between the works at this stage of the case,” the judge explained. “This type of analysis, which bears on evidence presented and factual determinations, is better suited for summary judgment or trial.”

A trial is tentatively scheduled for April 16.