Yet Another Suit Filed Against Troubled Gregg Allman Biopic
Lawsuits continue piling up around the troubled Gregg Allman biopic after a deadly on-set train accident killed a camera assistant and injured several others on Feb. 20.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, makeup artist Antonyia Verna's new claim against Open Road Films says she sustained serious physical injuries, mental anguish and lost income after the grisly incident on a trestle over the Atlamaha River in rural Georgia. The family of Sarah Jones, the camera assistant, has already filed a suit, as has hairstylist Joyce Gilliard after suffering a fractured arm.
Verna's suit offers new insight into the chaotic scene, as the group tried to evacuate the trestle once it became apparent that a train was approaching. Running toward the on-coming locomotive, the suit says, provided the shortest path to safety. That gave the frantic crew less than a minute to get back to an embankment.
Verna accuses the production company of failing to take minimum safety precautions -- like providing a lookout for the train, which was traveling more than 60 miles an hour when it reached the set; holding a safety meeting before shooting began to discuss an evacuation; and having a medic on the set while filming on an "unreasonably dangerous site."
As with the two earlier claims, Allman himself is a named defendant since he served as the film's executive producer. Allman has argued against that, since he wasn't involved with the actual production. He also filed his own suit, though that claim has since been withdrawn. In the meantime, Allman has continued to request that production stop on the film, which is based on his memoir 'My Cross to Bear.'
William Hurt, who was set to play Allman, subsequently quit the film. Boycotts have also been organized in Jones' honor.