Bonnie Aarons plays the titular demon Valek in the Conjuring universe’s spin-off The Nun. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she is suing Warner Bros. over what she claims to be shortfalls in merchandising revenue when it comes to her contracted likeness.
“Instead of accounting and paying in a transparent fashion,” the lawsuit states, “Warner Bros. obscures and hides the true amount of Ms. Aarons’ rightful share of merchandising revenues, all while continuing to exploit her.”
Aaron’s face is distinctive and her character is crucial to the success of the movie, it’s literally in the title.
When she asked the studio to show her the receipts of the revenue as it pertains to her character, they complied, but she alleges what they put forth was “inconsistent with the extensive merchandising activities” in regard to her horror movie character.
Furthermore, she requested the studio share the books with her in full transparency, and they did, but again she claims it was a “spreadsheet that contained line items corresponding to only a fraction of the known licenses.”
Since she and Warner Bros. have a contractual agreement in regard to the percentage of monetization she receives from the back end, she believes — after seeing the numbers — they are in violation of that understanding.
Here is how THR describes the contention:
“The complaint claims breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, which bars acting in a way that undermines the benefits to the counterparty of an agreement.”
The litigation may be coming to light because the sequel to the original in which Aaron stars, The Nun II, is set to drop in theaters on September 6. It’s expected to have a successful opening because it hits theaters just after Labor Day weekend. And with Halloween coming up, Valek might be one of the more popular horror movie characters people will choose as a costume and that should mean money in Aarons’ pocket.
