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Rich Fury/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Lawyers representing late Harper Lee's estate have filed suit over Aaron Sorkin's upcoming Broadway play To Kill a Mockingbird, based off of Lee's classic novel of the same name. The sui...

Harper Lee’s estate files suit over Aaron Sorkin’s Broadway adaptation of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Rich Fury/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Lawyers representing late Harper Lee‘s estate have filed suit over Aaron Sorkin’s upcoming Broadway play To Kill a Mockingbird, based off of Lee’s classic novel of the same name. The suit claims the adaption veers too far from the original novel, misrepresenting many of the characters, The New York Times reports.

According to the complaint, the producers of the play and Lee signed a contract eight months before her death, promising the plot and characters will remain faithful to the ones represented in the novel. However, in February, attorney Tonja B. Carter met with producers to discuss “serious concerns about the script,” which is written by the Academy Award-winning Sorkin.

The estate is most troubled with the play’s portrayal of the protagonist Atticus Finch. In the novel, Atticus is the hero who represents a black man who is accused of raping a white woman. In the play, Atticus is reportedly portrayed as a racial apologist “at odds with his purely heroic image.”

“This adaptation by Aaron Sorkin of To Kill a Mockingbird is a faithful adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, which has been crafted within the constraints of the agreement executed by both Harper Lee and the play’s producers before Ms. Lee’s death,” the play’s producer Scott Rudin said. “This action undertaken by the estate of Harper Lee is an unfortunate step in a situation where there is simply artistic disagreement over the creation of a play.”

The play is set to to begin previews November 1 and will officially premiere December 13.

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