Paramount Denies Lawsuit’s Allegations

Paramount Pictures denied as “a lie” a producer’s allegations that studio chief Sherry Lansing improperly tried to steer his film project to her husband, director William Friedkin.

Martin Ransohoff is seeking $2 million in a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed this week, alleging that Lansing prevented his “The Long Ride” from moving forward because Friedkin was unavailable.

But a Paramount spokeswoman called Ransohoff’s action “an opportunistic and frivolous lawsuit that is completely without merit.” She added that Ransohoff initiated a meeting with Friedkin and that the Oscar-winning director declined to take on the project.

Glen Kulik, an attorney for Ransohoff, responded, “Our version is set out in the complaint.”

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Claudia Eller