Director Zhang Yimou sues ex-production partner for $2.5M

In this July 2, 2015 photo, movie director Zhang Yimou speaks at a press conference of his latest movie “The Great Wall” at a hotel in Beijing. AP

BEIJING— Chinese director Zhang Yimou has sued a production company that he has worked with for more than a decade, seeking 15 million yuan ($2.5 million) he says he is owed as his share of the distribution money of one of his movies.

His lawyers argued Tuesday at Beijing Chaoyang District Court that Zhang hadn’t received his share of money for his 2009 film “A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop,” a dark comedy about a noodle shop owner scheming to murder his wife and her lover.

In its defense, Beijing New Picture Film Co. argued that Zhang started his lawsuit in 2014, after a deadline expired, the court said on its microblog.

Zhang and the production company have worked together on many films, including two of Zhang’s best-known: “House of Flying Daggers” and “Hero.”

Zhang wasn’t in court for the hearing, and the court didn’t say when the judgment would be announced.

Zhang is making his first English-language film, a $150 million Chinese-Hollywood fantasy movie “The Great Wall” starring Matt Damon. It’s due to be released late next year. TVJ