Kenneth Lonergan's 'Margaret': post-production in a courtroom

The film's lengthy post-production sparked two lawsuits, which are scheduled to be tried in June and September. Last July, Fox Searchlight sued Gilbert and his production company, claiming he failed to pay the studio half of the film's production costs. Two months later, Gilbert's Camelot Pictures sued Fox Searchlight and Lonergan, alleging that the studio and Lonergan thwarted Gilbert's many attempts to finish the movie, forcing Camelot to pay for "a clearly inferior and unmarketable film" that Lonergan, several people say, will not support.

The quandary surrounding the $12.6-million "Margaret" comes at an awkward time for Fox Searchlight. The studio is riding high from the success of the global smash "Slumdog Millionaire," a best picture Oscar winner that the studio acquired as a largely completed film from the defunct Warner Independent Pictures. But Fox Searchlight, whose president, Peter Rice, just left to run Fox's television network, has a spottier record when it comes to movies it develops and finances, such as "Margaret."

Several people who have seen versions of "Margaret" say that, while the lengthy movie is not necessarily commercial, it does contain several great performances. Anne McCabe, who cut "You Can Count on Me" and was one of "Margaret's" editors, said Scorsese told her a 2006 version of the film was "brilliant, a masterpiece."

Fox Searchlight hopes the legal fighting can be resolved soon, so that it can submit the movie to film festivals. But one Fox executive says that, given all the problems with the film, the studio likes to pretend "Margaret" never happened.

--

Creative differences

By some comparisons, the making -- and unmaking -- of a creative endeavor like "Margaret" has been told before. Filmmaker Elaine May and a small squadron of editors spent a year cutting 1976's "Mikey and Nicky." May's Peter Falk-John Cassavetes film came out surrounded by lawsuits, more than a year late and more than double its budget.

"Mikey and Nicky" was eventually released. "Margaret," on the other hand, remains in legal limbo, and even if the lawsuits are settled or tried, Lonergan still hasn't finished the movie to his liking, according to several people close to the production. If more time passes, what was once a contemporary drama could soon become a period piece.