John Wick producer sued over Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh film fight
Arthur Sarkissian claims Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road Films cut him out after years of work on action projects tied to Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
A Hollywood producer says a Donnie Yen project he helped build was derailed when the company behind John Wick allegedly steered the actor toward a bigger franchise payday.
Arthur Sarkissian is suing producer Basil Iwanyk and Iwanyk’s company, Thunder Road Films, according to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ. Sarkissian claims Thunder Road wrecked a film he had spent years developing and investing in, then later benefited from his work without paying him what he says he was owed.
The complaint centers on a chain of action projects involving Yen, Michelle Yeoh and Jennifer Lopez, with Sarkissian alleging he was pushed aside after helping move the films forward.
The Donnie Yen project
According to the lawsuit, Sarkissian says he first worked with Thunder Road on a movie called The Father. He claims he paid for the screenplay to be rewritten for Yen, setting up the actor as the project’s star.
Sarkissian alleges the plan collapsed when Thunder Road presented Yen with a larger payday for John Wick: Chapter 4, the Keanu Reeves action sequel produced by Thunder Road. In the complaint, Sarkissian claims that move effectively ended the movie he had been developing.
The suit accuses Iwanyk and Thunder Road of knocking the project off course after Sarkissian had already spent time and money trying to get it made.
Michelle Yeoh enters the picture
Sarkissian says the film later returned in a new form under the title The Mother, with Yeoh attached. According to the lawsuit, international presales for that version allegedly climbed as high as $18 million.
The producer claims he was promised an $850,000 producer fee and says he also brought in a director he had personally selected for the project.
That version also ran into trouble, according to the complaint. Sarkissian alleges Yeoh decided she did not want to portray a mother of two, which led to the role being shifted to Lopez.
Sarkissian claims Thunder Road told him it was trying to keep the movie alive. At the same time, he alleges, the company was privately looking around Hollywood for a different script to use instead.
The money fight
According to the suit, that search eventually led to The Surgeon, described in the filing as another action project involving Yeoh. Sarkissian claims his promised compensation was missing from that new setup.
He is suing Thunder Road and Iwanyk for breach of contract, allegedly profiting from his work without paying him, and allegedly making promises they did not keep.
Sarkissian is seeking at least the $850,000 producer fee he says he was promised, along with development costs, lost profits and punitive damages, according to the lawsuit.
TMZ, which said it obtained the legal filing, did not report a response from Iwanyk or Thunder Road Films to Sarkissian’s allegations.
This story draws on original reporting from TMZ.