In the latest Movie Legends Revealed, learn the bizarre story behind Matthew McConaughey being sued over his Texas Chainsaw Massacre film appearance.

Matthew McConaughey and his agents were sued by the producers of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film that McConaughhey starred in over allegations that McConaughey and his agents had the movie essentially “buried” by the studio.

A common fun thing for film buffs is to retroactively identify future acting superstars when they make small appearances in films early in their careers. You know, like seeing Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Goldblum in Annie Hall, or Bruce Willis as an extra in a courtroom scene in 1982’s The Verdict. However, there are also instances where future superstars make low budget films early in their careers, and those films sort of come back to haunt them when they become famous, as there is suddenly a market for a film that didn’t exist before one of its stars becomes a celebrity. This can sometimes be embarrassing if the initial film was not very good, and is now being re-released and tied to the fame of the celebrity, and so a small appearance in a low budget film now becomes the whole marketing angle for the film. A perfect example of that sort of thing is Leprechaun being re-released with Jennifer Aniston on the cover of the VHS box after she became a star on Friends following the film’s initial 1993 release, which obviously did NOT feature her in its initial marketing…

That’s what is so fascinating about the 1995 film, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which starred not just one, but TWO future superstars (both winners of the Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively), in it before they were famous, Matthew McConaughey and Renée Zellweger. You would think that casting two stars RIGHT before their careers blew up would have been a major boon for the film, but as it turns out, not only did it not help the film in the end, the producers of the film even ended up suing McConaughey in the end for what they felt was him pushing for the film to be buried!

What happened to the wide release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation?

Matthew McConaughey stars in the film, originally titled, The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, as Vilmer, a sadistic tow truck driver who is in league with Leatherface. He gives an appropriately over-the-top performance in the film, and Zellweger is strong as Jenny, the so-called “final girl” in the film. The film was initially screened at South by Southwest Film and Media Conference in March 1995, and then at other festivals, before finally getting a very limited release in the fall of 1995, making under $50,000 in its initial theatrical run.

In October 1995, Columbia TriStar Pictures acquired the distribution rights for the film, for both home video release, and also for a planned widespread re-release of the film. The film was renamed Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, and was re-released into cinemas in August 1997. By the point, McConaughey had become a star via the 1996 legal thriller, A Time to Kill, and Zellweger had become a star for her role in the blockbuster 1996 romantic comedy, Jerry Maguire.

Naturally, then, the producers of the film assumed that Columbia TriStar would try to capitalize on the fame of its two stars, but that didn’t really happen, with the “widespread” release of the film amounting to a 20-city release, less than $200,000 in ticket sales, and quickly exiting from theaters. Charles Grigson, a trustee for the producers of the film (Ultra Muchos and River City Films) actually sued Columbia TriStar, claiming that it breached its distribution agreement by not giving the film a true “wide release,” as it had allegedly promised. However, Columbia TriStar had built an arbitration agreement into the deal, and so Grigson voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit (as it would never go to trial due to the arbitration clause, which stated that any disputes be settled in arbitration only, and had to be arbitrated in California, not Texas).

He then found a new legal target…Matthew McConaughey!

Why was McConaughey sued over the Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

Grigson sued both McConaughey, and his talent agency, Creative Artists Ageny (CAA), one of the most powerful talent agencies in the world, in the case Charles O. Grigson, As Trustee for “the Texas Chainsaw Massacre”; River City Films, Inc.; Ultra Muchos, Inc., Plaintiffs-appellants, v. Creative Artists Agency, L.l.c.; Matthew David Mcconaughey, Defendants-appellees, 210 F.3d 524 (5th Cir. 2000).

Grigson’s legal argument was that McConaughey, and his talent agency, had pressured Columbia TriStar into burying the film, for fear that it would embarrass McConaughey and Zellweger in their new roles as film superstars (note that Columbia TriStar released Jerry Maguire), and thus, they had tortuously interfered with the producers’ agreement with Columbia TriStar (the producers sold the distribution rights for less than $2 million, as they would get a cut of the theatrical profits).

In 1997, one of the film’s producers, Robert Kuhn, agreed that it made sense to delay the film until after Jerry Maguire came out, but had problems with the handling of the film beyond that:

Well, we definitely feel that Columbia/TriStar has not done what they agreed to do in terms of trying to market this film in the best possible fashion. They have not tried to exploit this film to monetarily benefit us as they should have. They’ve just low-keyed it. They don’t want to be guilty of exploiting Matthew because of their relationship with CAA, which is the strongest single force in Hollywood these days. You get on the wrong side of them, you’re in trouble. So I understand their problem, but at the same time, they should have either given the film back to us or they should have done the best release they could have done. And they haven’t done that

However, McConaughey and CAA successfully argued that any theoretical case against them should be bound up with the initial dropped case against Columbia TriStar, and if that case had to be settled by arbitration, then so would any claim against them. Once the courts agreed, the matter was eventually dropped.

McConaughhey, for his part, publicly claimed ahead of the film’s re-release that he was fine with the film, stating, “I’m not embarrassed by it at all. It was fun and honest work at a time when I was trying to figure out how feature films are made and how different directors deal constructively with actors. It was back when we were working 15 hours a day for $300 a week, and I wouldn’t trade for the experience.”

In any event, whether McConaughey and CAA actually got involved or not, the lawsuit was for real, and so the legend is…

STATUS: True

Thanks to my pal, Miken A., for suggesting this one!

Be sure to check out my archive of Movie Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of film.