MOVIES - Sept. 4, 1987

Whoopi Goldberg has filed a $5-million breach of contract lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against film director Rip Torn and New World Pictures over the editing of an unreleased film, “The Telephone,” in which she starred. At issue in the suit: Goldberg’s editing rights on the movie. The actress alleges that she had a contractual right to edit her version of the film. Furthermore, the suit claims, New World and co-producer Telephone Productions Inc. preferred her cut of the film, but when director Torn learned that Goldberg’s cut would be released, he took the matter to the Directors Guild for arbitration. At the end of arbitration Aug. 11, New World said it planned to release the Torn version, the suit said.