Speed junkies and martial art fans will just have to wait a little longer as the release of Furious 7 hit a roadblock from a contract dispute involving star Tony Jaa. One of Thailand’s leading film groups, Sahamongkol Film International obtained a court injunction stopping the scheduled release of “F7,” which had been set for April 1. The injunction names Universal Pictures and distributor United International Pictures (Fareast) includes the Ong Bak star, alleging a breach of a management contract with Sahamongkol that runs till 2023.
Sahamongkol had a long-term contract to produce, distribute and act as Jaa’s exclusive talent agent, with Jaa insisting the contract had expired. The company is reportedly seeking $49 million (THB1.6 billion) in compensation, a sum it calculates as the sum of previous investments in launching the star, lost future earnings, and a 7.5% interest.
The court has said that it will not examine the case fully until June. Sahamongkol says it is open to negotiations before then. The dispute even has a possibility of disrupting two other films set for release this year.
