Dave Franco & Alison Brie Being Sued, Accused of Stealing Idea for Together

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Dave Franco & Alison Brie Being Sued, Accused of Stealing Idea for Together

Dave Franco and Alison Brie, along with WME, are being sued for allegedly stealing the idea behind the upcoming body horror movie Together.

What are Dave Franco and Alison Brie being sued for?

According to a new lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court (via THR), StudioFest are accusing Franco and Brie of turning down an offer to star in Better Half, a 2023 movie that StudioFest financed and owned the rights to. That movie also features a plot centering around a couple who find that their bodies have fused together following a one-night stand.

The lawsuit alleges that the pair — who produced Together — made a copycat film alongside another WME client. StudioFest specifically names Franco, Brie, WME, Michael Shanks (the director and writer of Together) and Neon, who bought the rights to the film earlier this year.

According to StudioFest, the company optioned Patrick Phelan’s Better Half in 2019, and a casting director subsequently reached out to the WME agents that represent Franco and Brie, to not only send over the script for the movie, but to offer the pair a $20,000 offer to star in the film. The offer was turned down, and StudioFest moved foward with production of the film. The studio then claims that they were forced to sit “in stunned silence, their worst nightmare unfolding” during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where Together premiered.

StudioFest’s lawsuit alleges that the movie shares very similar plots, as well as identical endings and scenes, including one where the couple dances to a Spice Girls vinyl record after accepting their fates. Dan Miller, a lawyer representing StudioFest, also says that the main characters of the film are nearly identical to each other, as well.

“In both works, the main characters’ careers are also substantially similar,” writes Dan Miller, a lawyer for StudioFest, in the complaint. “In both, Character A is a teacher and Character B is a punk artist looking for their big break.”

Other similarities, according to StudioFest, include moments in both films where rats are shown stuck together, as well as a scene where both characters become stuck together by the genitals in a bathroom. The complaint notes that these are not just tropes used, but instead an “artistic choice” that “defy any innocent explanation.”