Dave Franco and Alison Brie are under legal fire amid growing controversy over their upcoming film. A new lawsuit has been filed against the real-life couple and others for allegedly stealing the concept for Together, a Sundance breakout hit. The legal battle has sparked industry-wide attention, with claims that the script mirrors another film they previously turned down. Now, the agency WME has responded to the allegations.
Dave Franco accused of stealing script from indie film, WME responds
Dave Franco and Alison Brie face a copyright infringement lawsuit over their 2025 body horror film Together, filed by StudioFest in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 13. The complaint alleges Franco, Brie, director Michael Shanks, and the agency WME “copied” elements from Better Half, a 2023 film produced by StudioFest. WME has responded to the lawsuit, saying it is “frivolous.”
StudioFest alleges that Franco and Brie rejected a 2020 offer to star in Better Half. Their WME agents received the full script at the time. After declining the offer, the couple allegedly worked with WME client Michael Shanks to develop a similar project. Shanks wrote and directed Together, which premiered at Sundance 2025 and sold to Neon reportedly for $17 million.
According to the lawsuit, both Together and Better Half follow couples who become “physically fused…as a metaphor for codependency.” The complaint highlights several similarities. Both films include a bathroom scene “where the protagonists become attached at the genitals.” Each features a “visual motif of rodents that are stuck together.” Both end with a dance scene set to the same Spice Girls vinyl. The complaint also states that the female leads are teachers in both projects, while the male leads are punk artists chasing their big break.
StudioFest cites a near-verbatim reference to Plato’s Symposium in both scripts. It also claims that several scenes share nearly identical visual framing. One example includes a shot where “the minor character’s feet [peek] out from just outside the door,” which appears in both films.
A WME spokesperson, while speaking to IndieWire, addressed the allegations and said, “This lawsuit is frivolous and without merit. The facts in this case are clear and we plan to vigorously defend ourselves.” Further, the representatives for Franco, Brie, Shanks, and Neon have not yet commented.
Notably, Together is scheduled for theatrical release on July 30.
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on ComingSoon.
