Gregg Allman drops lawsuit against film producers over "Midnight Rider" biopic
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Gregg Allman agreed Tuesday drop his lawsuit against movie producers who were making a film about the singer's life when a freight train plowed into their Georgia crew and killed a camera assistant.
Attorneys for the Allman Brothers Band singer and Unclaimed Freight Productions told a Savannah judge Tuesday they reached an out-of-court agreement a day after Allman's lawyer grilled film director Randall Miller on the witness stand about the Feb. 20 crash. Attorneys declined to discuss details of the deal, including whether Miller would be able to move forward with reviving the "Midnight Rider" movie.
"We have come together and reasoned with one another," Allman attorney David Long-Daniels told the judge. He declined to comment further outside of court, as did Miller's attorney, Donnie Dixon.
Allman filed suit against the film producers April 28 in Chatham County Superior Court, saying their rights to his life story had lapsed because they failed to meet production deadlines. Long-Daniels said Allman wanted Miller and his production company off the project because the train crash had harmed the singer's reputation.
Investigators say Miller, his crew and actor William Hurt, who was to star as Allman, were shooting on a railroad bridge spanning the Altamaha River when a train came upon them at 55 mph. The train crashed through a bed set on the tracks as a prop and struck and killed 28-year-old camera assistant Sarah Jones, whose family is from West Columbia, South Carolina. Others were injured either by the train or flying debris. Sheriff's investigators in Wayne County, southwest of Savannah, said the crew did not have a permit from CSX Railroad, which owns the tracks. Local prosecutors are still weighing whether to file criminal charges.
Allman, who had a liver transplant in 2010 and canceled performances in March because of illness, wasn't in court Monday or Tuesday. His attorney told the judge the 66-year-old singer remains in poor health.