Mike Myers fires back at Universal and Imagine

Jul 11, 2000 by Ian Evans

It would be funny if you could get Dr. Evil to say “20 million dollars” but the situation between comedian Mike Myers and Universal/Imagine is anything but funny.

On Monday Myers decided to countersue Universal Pictures for trying to force him to make the Dieter movie with what he says is an unacceptable script.

Myers and his wife Robin Ruzan also filed claims for assault, abuse of process and invasion of privacy. They said that Universal employed a process server who “stalked Myers on the streets near his home.”

The suit also lists Imagine producer Brian Grazer as a co-conspirator, saying he was the person who gave Myers’ home address to the process server.

The suit, which seeks damages over $20 million, is the latest legal volley over the SNL-based comedy. Myers says the script is unacceptable, Universal and Imagine fire back that he wrote it. Myers says he can’t find a workable idea and that the suit by Universal and Imagine is “a classic example of a movie studio placing … greed above artistic integrity.”

Myers’ suit claims that he told the producers he could not work on a picture when felt that the script had so many problems yet the producers said it was “good enough.” He even says that Brian Grazer’s partner in Imagine, director Ron Howard, told him Universal would sue if he didn’t get started and that it “was going to get ugly.”

A very unfunny situation that is sure to get uglier before it concludes.