Lee lawyer seeks to block suit over ‘Mockingbird’ production

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) – A lawyer for the estate of Harper Lee is trying to halt a lawsuit filed by a producer who plans to stage a Broadway production of the writer’s classic “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Court records show Lee attorney Tonja Carter asked a federal court in Alabama on Tuesday to block a federal lawsuit filed last week in New York by producer Scott Rudin’s company, Rudinplay.

Carter filed a lawsuit last month that contends writer Aaron Sorkin’s script for a stage adaptation of “Mockingbird” set to open in December alters characters in Lee’s book, counter to a contract with the estate.

Rudinplay is seeking $10 million from Lee’s estate and threatening to cancel the play.

Carter contends the company’s lawsuit concerns the same issues covered by her suit and should be blocked.

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