LYNYRD SKYNYRD – Judge Halts Completed Plane Crash Biopic
Архив новостей | Русская версия
In an opinion out on Monday, U.S. District Court judge Robert Sweet writes, "Cleopatra is prohibited from making its movie about Lynyrd Skynyrd when its partner substantively contributes to the project in a way that, in the past, he willingly bargained away the very right to do just that; in any other circumstance, Cleopatra would be as 'free as a bird' to make and distribute its work."
Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines were two Lynyrd Skynyrd members who were killed in a 1977 plane crash. According to lore, the survivors took a "blood oath" never to use the name Lynyrd Skynyrd again. That pact was tested a decade later by a "Lynyrd Skynyrd Live" album in conjunction with a 1987 tour. Afterwards, the parties entered into a settlement agreement, adopted by a judge as a "Consent Order." One of the signatories was Artimus Pyle, a former drummer for the band which popularized Southern rock. He attempted to put his signature to the order "under protest."
When word of Street Survivor got around, heirs of Van Zant and Gaines as well as founding lead guitarist Gary Rossington sued the makers and alleged Pyle assisted the making of the movie in violation of his agreements.
The movie centers on drummer Artimus Pyle’s recollection of the events surrounding the crash of the group’s touring plane in Mississippi on October 20th, 1977. Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were killed on impact; other band members (Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins), tour manager Ron Eckerman,and several road crew suffered serious injuries.
One week before Lynyrd Skynyrd boarded the flight, members of Aerosmith were scheduled to board the same Convair CV-300.
The accident came just three days after the release of the band’s legendary Street Survivors album which featured "What's Your Name" and "That Smell”.
