The director has written to Warner's CEO Kevin Tsujihara about his 'heartbreak' over the loss of rights to his film's name
Director Lee Daniels has made a heartfelt plea to the head of Warner Brothers in an effort to convince the studio to drop its claim over the title for his forthcoming Oscar-tipped historical drama The Butler, according to Deadline.
Citing his film's civil rights theme and depiction of the African-American experience, Daniels tells Warner CEO Kevin Tsujihara he is "heartbroken" at the prospect of changing its title at such a late stage. The Butler is due to open Stateside in just six weeks, but Warner and distributor The Weinstein Company are locked in a battle for rights to the name, with the larger studio citing a little-known 1916 short in its library which has the same title.
Daniels, the director of Precious and The Paperboy, wrote:
"I have spent the last four years of my life working on the film, The Butler, and it is the proudest moment of my professional career. I am heartbroken as I write this letter to you. I made this film so I could show my kids, my family, and my country some of the injustices and victories African-Americans and their families have experienced in the fight for Civil Rights. Through the eyes of this loving and hard-working family, the film tells the story of the Civil Rights Movement from the sit-ins and the Freedom Riders, to Selma, Martin Luther King's assassination, and the election of the first Black President.
I am so proud of this movie. Every member of our cast worked for almost nothing so that this story could be told with only our very small budget. If we were to change the title a mere six weeks before we open, it would most certainly hurt the film by limiting the number of people who would ultimately see this important story. This movie is not a blockbuster, nor did we intend it to be. We just wanted to tell the dark and beautiful story of our nation's racial history, where we came from, and how far we have come."
Daniels then offers to arrange a private screening for Tsujihara, who finds himself at the centre of a media firestorm only four months after taking on the role of Warner CEO. The Weinstein Company's co-owner, Harvey Weinstein, has taken a rather different tack. He has hired high-profile lawyer David Boies to take on Warner. The Weinstein Company lost rights to the title "The Butler" on 2 July following a ruling by the Motion Picture Association of America's arbitration board.
The Butler, as it is still currently titled, stars Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker as a servant named Cecil Gaines. The character is based on the real-life White House butler Eugene Allen, who served eight presidents between 1952 and his retirement in 1986. Oprah Winfrey plays Gaines's wife, Gloria, with Britain's David Oyelowo as his civil-rights activist son, Louis. Robin Williams, Melissa Leo, James Marsden, Minka Kelly, John Cusack, Alan Rickman and Jane Fonda appear as the various US presidents and first ladies Gaines meets along the way.