Another legal crash shaping up

Last Oscar season may be fading from memory, but a sequel to its nastiest credit skirmish already is underway, featuring the same producers at the center of a battle over credits for the best picture winner, “Crash.�

On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge James Dunn issued a court order blocking financier Bob Yari from removing Cathy Schulman’s producer credit on “The Illusionist,� a drama starring Edward Norton as a turn-of-the-century magician. Dunn’s temporary restraining order either could become permanent or be rescinded when the case is argued more fully on June 23.

When “The Illusionist� premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Schulman was listed as one of the film’s five producers, while her producing partner, Tom Nunan, was credited as one of four executive producers. But Yari wants Schulman’s and Nunan’s names removed from new prints of “The Illusionist� being made in advance of the film’s August debut.

Yari’s lawyer, James S. Schreier, did not dispute that Yari wanted to remove their credits, but said the move was necessitated by Schulman and Nunan’s breaching their production contract with Yari.

Schulman, who shared the best picture Oscar with Paul Haggis for producing “Crash,� and Nunan have been involved in a preexisting legal flap that has both Schulman and Yari suing each other. Yari’s production company backed “Crash� and is behind “The Illusionist.�

Schulman’s supporters believe the planned excision from the prints of “The Illusionist� was payback for Schulman’s suing Yari. Both Norton and co-star Paul Giamatti have filed declarations with Dunn saying Schulman deserved the producer credit.

Vance Van Petten, the executive director of the Producers Guild of America, said in a separate statement filed on Schulman’s behalf that removing a producing credit for completed work “is a direct violation of the PGA’s rules governing credits.� Schulman’s lawyer, Mel Avanzado, who denied any breach of contract, said: “It’s kind of an extraordinary thing to remove someone’s name from a completed film.�

The dispute over “The Illusionist� -- which so far has yet to garner the kind of early buzz that “Crash� had -- is the latest flap over producing credits involving Yari.

When “Crash� was released last year, Yari and three others were listed as having produced the movie with Haggis and Schulman. But the PGA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ruled that only Haggis and Schulman deserved “Crash� producer credits, meaning that when the film took the best picture trophy, Yari was unable to share in the award.

Yari sued both the PGA and the academy over the “Crash� exclusion; a ruling on whether the case might be dismissed, as the PGA and academy have requested, is expected soon from a different judge.