Die Mommie Die subject of lawsuit

The Los Angeles Times reports that playwright Charles Casillo has filed a lawsuit in which he claims that his work was stolen and turned into the film Die Mommie Die, currently playing in theaters nationwide. Casillo's suit says that drag artist and writer Charles Busch based his play Die Mommy Die and the subsequent film version on Casillo's play One Night Stand in a Lonely Hotel, which he claims to have given Busch a copy of in 1993. One Night Stand was first produced in New York in 1989, and Casillo says he showed it to Busch in the hopes that Busch would produce and star in the show. The suit, which also names Mommie's producer, Aviator Films, and distributor, Sundance Film Series, says the two plays have very similar plots. A spokesperson for Sundance declined to comment to the Times.