Seeking to put a stop to a rehash that would tarnish the reputation of an MGM classic (a right that is the sole province of MGM itself), a lawsuit has been filed to stop production of Raging Bull II, the sequel that is to Martin Scorsese's original what Jake LaMotta's comedy career was to his boxing. The move comes nearly a month after filming already began under director Martin Guigui—hired because of his previous experience with bovines and incredibly low expectations on National Lampoon's Cattle Call—as evidenced by the above promo shot that is from the film and not, in fact, from an Off-Broadway staging of Newsies. That photo may soon be the only proof Raging Bull II ever existed, now that MGM has finally stepped in to demand that the project be buried forever, and deny Guigui the straight-to-DVD cage where his bull can rage.
Claiming breach of contract, among many other things, the studio's chief complaint is that it inherited the rights of first refusal on any project stemming from a LaMotta-penned sequel—a right that the sequel's producers, the cleverly named RB II Productions, have ignored. MGM also argues that Raging Bull II is "plainly intended to create confusion in the marketplace and to trade off the value" of the original, which is an allegation more or less backed up by the fact that the movie is actually called Raging Bull II. (That it stars Tom Sizemore, Natasha Henstridge, and Bill Bellamy is not specifically mentioned in the lawsuit, as this is not technically illegal… yet.) "I'm da boss, I'm da boss, I'm da boss," MGM's lawsuit concludes, basically, to which RB II Productions has not yet replied, "They're miserable because their mothers take it up the fuckin' ass," because this is a real lawsuit and that would be irresponsible, shamelessly aping someone else's art like that.