After a contentious lawsuit erupted between filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and his former studio Miramax over Tarantino’s decision to release a series of “Pulp Fiction” NFTs, with both sides firing off heated arguments in the media, an agreement has been reached.
Miramax and Quentin Tarantino have released a joint statement regarding the settlement of the pending NFT lawsuit.
“The parties have agreed to put this matter behind them and look forward to collaborating with each other on future projects, including possible NFTs,” the statement said.
Late last year, Tarantino and blockchain company Secret Network announced that they’d be selling uncut and unreleased scenes from “Pulp Fiction” as NFTs. Those purchasing the NFTs would also receive exclusive access to extras, including commentary from Tarantino and images of the handwritten first draft of the screenplay.
Miramax, who has plans to turn much of its library into NFTs, argued that Tarantino doesn’t have the right to release NFTs of his own screenplay and sent a cease-and-desist to the filmmaker (who, in the years since “Pulp Fiction’s” release, made movies like “Django Unchained,” “Kill Bill” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”).
“This group chose to recklessly, greedily, and intentionally disregard the agreement that Quentin signed instead of following the clear legal and ethical approach of simply communicating with Miramax about his proposed ideas,” Miramax’s attorney Bart Williams said in a statement in November. “This one-off effort devalues the NFT rights to ‘Pulp Fiction,’ which Miramax intends to maximize through a strategic, comprehensive approach.”
Tarantino’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, fired back. “Miramax is wrong — plain and simple,” Freedman said in a statement to TheWrap in November. “Quentin Tarantino’s contract is clear: he has the right to sell NFTs of his hand-written script for Pulp Fiction and this ham-fisted attempt to prevent him from doing so will fail. But Miramax’s callous decision to disclose confidential information about its filmmakers’ contracts and compensation will irreparably tarnish its reputation long after this case is dismissed.”
So, yes, things got pretty heated.
It’s unclear what happened, exactly, or what will come of Tarantino’s NFT plans, but the beef has been squashed.
