MOVIES - Feb. 29, 1988

United Artists Pictures has filed a $5.6-million lawsuit against comedian Sam Kinison and his production company, claiming the screaming comic “acted with despicable conduct” when he allegedly breached an obligation to appear in a film. UA’s suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, contends that Kinison refused to appear as the title character in the film “Atuk” after he developed the movie. The lawsuit, which seeks $4.6 million in actual damages and $1 million in punitive damages, say Kinison’s representatives told the studio that he had approved the screenplay and would appear in the film, which had eight days of shooting in New York before UA closed the production down.