It was recently reported that a movie is in the works about former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, based on James Patterson’s book All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez, the Superstar Whose Life Ended on Murderer’s Row.
The movie rights were acquired by The Mark Gordon Co., and Gordon — producer of films such as Saving Private Ryan, Speed, Murder on the Orient Express — claims he’s getting threats from another Hollywood producer.
According to TMZ, Todd Guzze says that *he* owns the Aaron Hernandez film rights, and has been threatening Gordon and employees at The Mark Gordon Co. in an attempt to stop their production of the movie.
Gordon reportedly has asked the court for protection, after Guzze allegedly threatened physical harm and left a voicemail referencing two gangs, the Latin Kings and the Bloods. TMZ claims they obtained the court documents, which say that Gordon has asked the court to keep Guzze “at least 300 yards from his office and all of his employees.”
In court documents obtained by TMZ Sports, Gordon says Guzze left a voicemail referencing two huge street gangs, The Latin Kings and The Bloods — saying Aaron was a member of both gangs and noting that he was “keeping them at bay right now.”
Gordon says Guzze threatened physical harm by saying, “I don’t need to tell you how [the gangs] work … They’re right here in L.A.”
Gordon says the threats continued online. One message said, “Are you ready? I hope it’s worth it.”
In the docs, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Gordon is asking the judge to keep Guzze at least 300 yards from his office and all of his employees.
It’s unclear from this whole story if Guzze even wants to make a Hernandez film, or if he’s simply trying to protect the Hernandez family. Guzze spoke to TMZ, and said he’s told Gordon that “no one is doing this story but the family and the original partners that were closely tied to Aaron and his estate.”
We reached out to Guzze, who tells TMZ Sports, “Mark Gordon has taken this too far. Aaron Hernandez is a very sensitive story and I’ve made him aware on multiple occasions that no one is doing this story but the family and the original partners that were closely tied to Aaron and his estate.”
He added, “There is more to come, concerning Aaron’s story, and by making this a public spectacle, I feel it’s just throwing gasoline on the fire.”
This is a bizarre story, and it will be interesting to see if anything new comes from the feud and movie production.
[TMZ]
