Question: Why was River Phoenix' mother sued?
It says in the River Phoenix trivia section that his mother was sued after the death of River, apparently because it could not be completed. Does anyone know more about this?
shareSupposedly in his contract he stated that he didn't use drugs, insurance purposes i believe, and well, we all know what happened....
shareRiver is my number 1 and i think if you watch The Last 24 Hours Of River Phoenix you might understand a bit more anout the Drugs and you will find that before he took those drugs he was clean that night and you will find out why he took those drugs.
Not on the rug, man....
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It's disgusting to think about really, I'm happy the case was dropped.
River's mother had just buried her son, the last thing she needed was court. Some people out there are so heartless.
However, the film industry is a harsh buisness, and I guess this is a perfect example of that.
River was mean't to play the interviewer in 'Interview with the vampire' but died before production. Christian slater took the role, done a brilliant job and donated his whole paycheck to all of River's favourite charitys. Thats what the industry needs, people with heart.
Interview with the Vampire is one of my favorite movies and River is one of my favorite actors, but I did not know that he was the one meant to play the interviewer. And to find out that Slater donated the earnings is really remarkable. I think Salter did an excellent job in the movie however it would have been really interesting with River. As far as the movie producers suing the family, that is just unbelieveable, they should know that there is always a risk when dealing with human beings.
shareGive me a friggen break will you. He was responsible for this film shutting down end of story. It is not only in the movie studio's right to go after that money after his death its their responsibility. Were talking alot of money here and just who do you think should foot the bill? Should it be the River Phoenix estate considering it was his fault? Abso frigging lutely!! Dont get me wrong I am a big fan of River Phoenix and the work he did but I am also a very realistic person and fully understand that actors have responsibilities and when an entire movie gets canned halfway through production because of something an actor does, they should be responsible wether it be directly responsible if they are still alive or their estate should be responsible if they are dead.
The part I think everyone is ignoring here is the fact that it went to court and the film makers had to sue. You say its in poor taste to do that so quickly after his death but I say it only went to court because the Phoenix's refused to pay which is in itself utterly ridiculous. Their son dies of a drug overdose and he was an adult and should be held accountable for his actions just like everyone else on this planet. I and not one of those people who thinks stars should get some special kind of treatment when dealing with the law.
Now what should have happened is the Phoenix's should have paid the money and it would never have even gone to court and it would have not been a big deal. They didn't however and for some reason they seemed to feel that Phoenix wasn't responsible and dont ask me how in gods name they came to that conclusion. They got lucky that river never signed the paper and didn't have to pay. It doesn't change the fact on who is in the right and who is in the wrong. What was in poor taste wasn't the studio going after financial compensation from the phoenix estate. What was in poor taste was the phoenix estate refusing to pay in the first place thus causing the lawsuit.
Its a matter of right and wrong. River was guilty plain and simple and he should have been accountable for his actions. None of this changes the fact that losing River was a tragedy and we lost one hell of a talented young actor. It just would have been nice for the parties involved to have done the proper thing under the circumstances. Fact is the Phoenix estate didn't act properly and forced the studio into making very tough decisions which ultimately makes the studio look bad. Dont get me wrong I know first hand just how malicious movie studios can be however this is just not one of those cases and I for one fully understand why they did what they did and I dont fault them at all. Again I fault the phoenix estate for putting the studio in that position. They should have paid the money period.
As a side note I never knew that River Phoenix was supposed to be in Interview with a Vampire either and think that would have been one of his biggest breakthrough roles and definitly think he fits the part better than Christian Slater. I can just picture himi in that part, what a bummer!!
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Donny Baker "Man, those things were flopping around like River Phoenix after overdosing on blowzine outside the Viper Room. Man, I swear to God they were." Classic.
shareWasnt he breaking the law by taking drugs?? I got no sympathy for him, or his family. It was his fault he stopped production and his fault alone that he died.
That company has every right to sue them. He should have gone to prison for 5 years and not died.
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They never go to prison, neither the rock stars, nor the film stars not anyone with any clout in the U.S. Yet somehow the u.s. has got the largest per person prison popolulation in the world, a nation of criminals it seems, how is that? Cause they catch the kid on the corner doing a joint and the sent him away, while for people like River they turn a blind eye. Heck why wasn't the club investigated, how did it continue running up until now? Does anybody not think that they were doing drugs left right and center even after River died, or did the dealers and druggies suddenly develop a concience? But it seems no one bothered from the police to do a proper investigation because it was a high caliber high profile place and big $$ and big stars were doing the drugs there...what a world...
shareValid points!
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you my friend, are a *beep*
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I can agree with you on many levels but when it comes to fault ... there was a lot to go around. The drug use started several years previously on "Idaho". The producers, the money (people), the director and the cast knew about his drug problems but greed made gamblers out of those who would turn a profit. And when you gamble, you can lose ... and they did.
He had a history of drug problems. Had the insurance company paid, should the producers be brought up on charges for knowing, but not revealing, his history. It makes you think.
Macklin Crew
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wow you're a jhj
share. Their son dies of a drug overdose and he was an adult and should be held accountable for his actions just like everyone else on this planet.
How should they be accountable for his actions? He was an adult. Once someone is dead, that should be end of story. Even creditors these days try and go after family members for debts of deceased family. That's utter crap. There's no way I would let any creditor get me like that.
They write it off, just like they do all other expenses. What do they say...."cost of doing business". share
Should Brandon Lee have been sued because he died while making "The Crow" affecting production of the movie?
No. In fact, the producers of the movie should have, for not checking that a real gun was used in a scene, not a prop gun.
So, if studios want to sue River Phoenix, then the family of Brandon Lee should sue the film studio that did "The Crow" then.
I certainly agree with your latter sentiments/statements. Unbelievable atrocity ("The Crow" debacle). I'm not even convinced it was truly a mishap.
shareActually he was meant to play Lestat when he first signed on (Anne Rice wanted him to play Lestat) but in the end a more "bankable" person (Tom Cruise) was cast (much to Rice's dismay...but she warmed up to Cruise, I guess). He stayed signed though, to play the interviewer, but...well, we all know what happened...
I liked Christian Slater, but I love River.
He was also going to play Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries, which would have been AMAZING...but DiCaprio did a great job in that film...
It's sincerely a truly tragic thing that happened to River...but now I guess he'll withstand the tests of time, much like James Dean and possibly the now deceased Heath Ledger as well...
I bet if he would have lived he would have fully immersed himself in the musical aspect of his life...that would have been just amazing.
anne rice actually wanted river to play lestat, but the studio wanted tom cruise so river was offered the role of the interviewer instead..
shareBy that thinking there would be no law or law enforcement at all except for, ah, well we’re human and *beep* happens. I understand where you’re coming from and even half agree, but no, what was likely a $20 million dollar investment was completely lost. I’m certain you’d be less forgiving if this were your 20 million.
shareRiver Phoenix wasn't buried, he was cremated.
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I hope that all the crew who worked on this film got paid. What a bummer - you spend 3 months working on a film and then the junkie lead actor overdoses before it get's finished! Yeah, I agree that his estate should have been liable...
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benoit1977_1 ...that is an absolutely horrible quote. it's not in anyway funny.
And I don't think that his family should have been held liable for this either. They just lost their child, their brother...isn't that enough for crying out loud? I mean, was it really necessary to try to cripple them financially as well? I think it's absolute rubbish that the matter was even discussed, let alone went to court.
And to whomever said that they had no sympathy for River or his family...that's absolutely a horrid thing to say. Did you ever stop to think of the reasons he was using drugs in the first place? What kind of pressure was on him? And regardless of the circumstances of his death, his family still should have gotten some sympathy. You should be ashamed, *beep*
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Wow...so what you're saying is that when someone is drinking and driving and they kill someone in an accident, they should not go to jail? They should just get our sympathy because "half of Americans" (balls to the lols) have drug addictions.
Haha god that's so dumb. No one's saying you shouldn't feel bad that a 23 year old died. We're saying that his estate should have to pay for the movie costs since he was responsible for the illegal actions that led to A LOT of people getting ****ed over at their job.
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yeah well she's managed to pimp all her kids to hollywood and that atrociously bad actor joaquin, with that repulsive physique, short, chubby, crude (at least river was pretty), I am sure she (the mom of the christian cult legacy) could find a way to afford it.
shareIt's called responsibility, there are a lot of people who work in a film, if you go kill yourself because some filthy rich a.hole friends of yours shove some bad drugs down your nose it's not the most responsible thing to do, you ruin them, that's how life is, you take responsibility, you aren't going to turn the whole system on its head, the insurance system, the production system, just cause your teen idol hapenned to be a hypocrite playing the good clean cut kid while being an addict...I have no sympathy for him at all, hypocrites are not my cup of tea, at least all sorts of people who died of drugs were open about it.
shareThe case was dropped in the end because river never actually signed the medical form therefore making it useless. lucky for the family, the last thing they needed was being bled dry in the financial arena as well.
That was damn clever of River to not sign the medical form. I'm not saying it was right or wrong, just that it was clever. I bet no one noticed at the time either...
"I like that. You're open minded, much more so than me I'd have to say." - Josh Brolin
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plus wasn't he molested , so know wonder he took drugs.
If you love Homer Simpson 100% and believe that he is your savior, and make this your signature!
he took the drugs because he was a weak minded dumbass
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