Phantom Studios drags JioStar to HC over Queen 2,says it didn’t consent to sequel

Days after actor Kangana Ranaut announced that she had wrapped shooting for the ‘sequel’ to her 2014 box office hit Queen, Phantom Studios has moved the Bombay High Court alleging that it is being made without its consent.
JioStar India Private Limited, the respondent, claimed on Tuesday that the upcoming film was an independent production and not a sequel.
The suit against JioStar India Private Limited, filed through legal firm Rashmikant and Partners, sought an injunction against the release of the film and also damages of Rs 250 crore. It would come up before a single bench of the high court in due course.
Phantom Studios claimed in the suit that when the “Queen” was made, there was an agreement between the plaintiff and respondent (JioStar) that in future if any sequel or prequel was to be made, then both the parties would have 50 per cent rights on the same. It had not consented to any sequels, adaptations or derivative works of the film, Phantom Studios added. JioStar claimed in a statement that the new film has an original, independent story. It has no narrative, character or creative connection to any prior work, and is neither a sequel nor a prequel to any existing title, it said. “The word Queen is a part of the English language. No party can claim exclusive ownership over a common noun and any such claim has no basis in law,” JioStar said. (PTI)