EXCLUSIVE: Marv Studios, the production company founded by British director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake), has been sued by two stuntmen who claim a Kingsman: The Golden Circle clip was licensed to Elton John‘s farewell tour without authorization.
With the support of acting union Equity, Theo Morton and Douglas Robson have filed a lawsuit against Marv’s special purpose vehicle, Marv Bespoke Productions Limited. They are each seeking lost earnings of £100,000 ($133,000) for use of the 18-second Kingsman clip, which depicted John taking down bad guys.
They claim the footage was used in John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road stage show, which comprised 330 live performances. Morton and Robson further claim that the clip featured in Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium on Disney+ and his Glastonbury performance on BBC iPlayer.
“All of this exploitation of this footage has been done without the performers’ prior consent nor prior knowledge. Its use therefore breaches the contract between the performers and Marv,” said Morton and Robson’s High Court legal filing.
Marv did not respond to repeated requests for comment. An Equity spokesperson told Deadline: “We’re supporting our members in this case. Unfortunately, despite reaching out directly several times, we were unable to have meaningful dialogue with Marv which only left legal action. We remain keen to find an amicable resolution to this situation.”
Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service, premiered in 2017 and was directed by Vaughn. John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour ran from 2018 to 2023. Morton has more than 70 credits, including stunt work on Game of Thrones and Dunkirk, while Robson’s 50 credits include The Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy.