‘Deadpool,’ ‘Terminator Genisys’ Used Stolen Effects Technology, New Lawsuits Claim

Fox and Paramount accused of contracting with thieves for effects on hit films

Deadpool 2 IMAX
FOX

“Deadpool” and “Terminator Genisys” used stolen technology to create their big-screen razzle-dazzle, according to new lawsuits filed by visual-effects company Rearden.

In complaints filed against Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox in federal court in California on Monday, Rearden claims that 2015’s “Terminator Genisys” and 2016’s “Deadpool,” among other films, employed a technology called MOVA Contour Reality Capture, which according to the suits was invented — and stolen from — Rearden.

The suit against Fox similarly claims that the MOVA technology was used without authorization from Rearden to create the face of Colossus for “Deadpool.”

According to the suit against Paramount, the MOVA technology was used to re-create Arnold Schwarzenegger’s face and expressions at age 37, to match Schwarzenegger’s visage from the 1984 film “The Terminator.”

“Mr. Schwarzenegger’s face and expressions at age 37 are so famously known and recognizable, there was no margin for error: the CG face had to look and move exactly as it did at age 37,” the suit reads. “Paramount turned to an innovative, soon-to-be Oscar-winning, Visual Effects (“VFX”) technology called MOVA Contour Reality Capture, which carried every human subtlety of age-67 Mr. Schwarzenegger’s facial performance through to the face of the age-37 CG character. The result was a CG face widely acclaimed to look and move exactly like Mr. Schwarzenegger’s face at age 37.”

Unfortunately, the suit says, despite contracting with Rearden for the MOVA technology to make the 2008 film “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and 2011’s “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” Paramount chose to employ an entity that stole the technology from Rearden when it came to making 2015’s “Terminator Genisys.”

Last week, Rearden leveled similar claims against Disney, alleging in a lawsuit that “Beauty and the Beast,” “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” made use of its stolen MOVA technology.

As with the previous suit, Rearden is seeking unspecified damages against Fox and Paramount in the new complaints. Also like the Disney suit, the company is seeking injunctions preventing Fox from “reproducing, distributing, performing or displaying, or authorizing” the allegedly infringing films without Rearden’s authorization.

TheWrap has reached out to Fox and Paramount for comment.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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