Dave Franco, Alison Brie Sued for Copyright Infringement Over Sundance Hit ‘Together’

“Together” producer-stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie were sued Tuesday for copyright infringement after production, financing and distribution company StudioFest accused the creatives and real-life couple of stealing the plot for their Sundance body horror film from 2023 indie “Better Half.”

Co-defendants on the lawsuit are “Together” writer-director Michael Shanks; William Morris Endeavor (WME), which represents Franco, Brie and Shanks; and Neon, the film distributor that acquired the horror feature out of Sundance for $17 million in January.

“My client’s original work was stolen. The similarities between the two works are staggering and defy any innocent explanation,” StudioFest attorney Dan Miller of Miller Barondess told TheWrap in a statement. “We intend to hold the defendants accountable and look forward to trial.”

Representatives for Brie, Franco and WME did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. Neon declined comment.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday on behalf of StudioFest and co-founders Jess Jacklin and Charles Irving Beale in the Central District of California, claims that “both works center around a couple who wake up to find their bodies physically fused together as a metaphor for codependency,” and that “Together” additionally echoes “plot, themes, characters, dialogue, mood, setting, pace and sequence of events” from “Better Half,” the feature directorial debut from filmmaker Patrick Henry Phelan.

Further laying out the circumstances in which Franco and Brie would have become familiar with “Better Half,” the lawsuit states that Phelan’s original screenplay was brought to the husband-wife creatives in 2020 via their representatives at WME with an offer for both to star as the central couple. Included in the suit is Exhibit A, showing Aug. 19, 2020, email correspondence between WME’s T.J. Bernardy and casting director Lois Drabkin, who was hired to work on “Better Half” by StudioFest.

“Producers have asked me to check in on bringing an offer to Dave Franco, and simultaneously to his wife Alison Brie, for the two leads in the feature film ‘Better Half,’ a surreal, satirical comedy about a man and a woman who have a one-night stand, and wake up to see that they have become literally and physically attached — an attachment that seems to be progressing toward total connection/immersion unless they figure out how to reverse it. Ultimately, it’s a story with a heart, and will really hit depending on the chemistry of the two leads,” Drabkin’s pitch read.

Bernardy responded later that day: “So to be clear, offer for both Dave and Alison?” Upon Drabkin’s confirmation, Bernardy responded the next day, Aug. 20: “Dave is going to pass, but thank you for thinking of him.”

The lawsuit then alleges that the actor-producers “engaged in an intentional scheme to copy ‘Better Half,’ and that Franco and Brie rejected StudioFest’s offer because they wanted to produce the film themselves and have WME package the project with one of the agency’s own writers.”

“Together” debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January to a raucous reception and Neon acquired the film. But the lawsuit alleges that stories told to the press at the fest about how “Together” came to Franco after Shanks set a general meeting with him through WME are fabricated.

Franco and Brie to this point had co-starred in “The Little Hours,” “The Disaster Artist,” “Horse Girl” and “The Rental.” Franco also directed Brie in “Somebody I Used to Know.” The two have been married since 2017.

Also featured within StudioFest’s lawsuit is Exhibit B, showcasing a side-by-side of promotional images from both films, which the production company claims are “virtually identical.” (See below.)

In addition to citing similarities between the premise of “Better Half” and “Together,” the suit draws from direct scenes, themes and moments of dialogue that StudioFest argues prove the latter film to be a “blatant ripoff.” One example is characters’ discussion of “Plato’s Symposium” in a “near-verbatim way, explaining that human beings originally had two faces and eight limbs, but Zeus split them in half because the gods feared man’s power.” Another is that both “Better Half” and “Together” share a final “pivotal emotional scene” that features the two main characters accepting their fate and putting on a vinyl of the Spice Girls album “Spiceworld.” The two central couples are also composed of one codependent partner and a commitment-phobic artist, both in their 30s.

StudioFest ultimately cast Dianne Doan and Connor Paolo as the leads for “Better Half.” Filming started in October 2021 and wrapped that November. The film premiered at Dances With Films in 2023 and then screened at the Brooklyn Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, Beloit International Film Festival and Julien Dubuque International Film Festival.

Development on “Together” was first announced in February 2024.

The lawsuit also details how “Better Half” producers and StudioFest co-founders Jacklin and Beale attended the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in January and went to a screening for “Together.” While the suit states that both had previously received “a flurry of calls and text messages from colleagues and friends, expressing concern over the striking similarities between the two projects,” it claims that the producers sat through the Sundance screening “in stunned silence, their worst nightmare unfolding” as they came to believe that the film “stole virtually every unique aspect” of “Better Half.”

Plaintiffs are seeking damages for actual and statutory damages, disgorgement of profits, injunctive relief to prevent further infringement, attorneys’ fees and costs, and pre- and post-judgment interest — totaling an amount to be proven through trial by jury.

“Together” is slated to be released on Aug. 1 by Neon.

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