Doug Liman's upcoming crime thriller film "Mena" is currently facing some legal issues.
Liman's "Mena" centers on Barry Seal, a real-life drug runner in the south during the 1980s who eventually became a workforce for the CIA. Seal was shot on Feb. 19, 1986 in the parking lot of Salvation Army halfway house on Airline Higway in Baton Rogue. Prosecutors told The Advocate that drug traffickers had tied to the Medellin Caretl in Colombia for the gun assassination.
According to The Advocate, Lisa Seal Frigon, Seal's daughter from his first marriage now administered the Estate. The publication said that Frigon claimed in a complaint that her father's third wife Debbie Seal and three children born of that marital had sold Seal's life story to Universal Studios for $350,000 without the Estate's affirmation nor court approval.
Aside from the life rights, the lawsuit also covered issues on the dramatic and fictional elements featured in the film, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
Filed on Oct. 14 and assigned to state District Judge Don Johnson, the lawsuit also claimed that the film script contained "many factual inaccuracies and thus falsely portrays" Barry as a drunkard, reckless pilot, and father of three children, not five, among other things. The complaint had also reportedly damaged the commercial worth of Barry's persona, which had reduced the value of his Estate.
There was no word yet from Universal Pictures while Debbie and her three children Aaron, Dean, and Christina could not be reached.
With Liman directing the film, Gary Spinelli is on board to pen the film script. The film stars Michael Mercaldi, Jed Rees, April Billingsley, Caleb Landry Jones, Lola Kirke, Jayma Mays, Sarah Wright, Domhnall Gleeson, Jesse Plemons, and Tom Cruise.
Liman's "Mena" is slated to premiere in theaters in the United States on Jan. 6, 2017.