The most-anticipated theatrical event of the summer isn’t coming to a New York courthouse after all. Harper Lee’s estate and Scott Rudin’s production company Rudinplay have settled their legal battle over the Broadway-bound production of To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Aaron Sorkin, both parties said in a joint statement today. They claim the matter was “amicably settled,” but did not disclose the terms of their negotiation. The estate had sued over differences between the stage adaptation and Lee’s novel, claiming that its depiction of Atticus Finch diverged too far from Lee’s original intention. Rudin later countersued the estate and offered to stage the production in a courthouse so that it could be judged fairly. Though having a play staged in a courthouse is surely one of Aaron Sorkin’s dreams, that won’t be happening. To Kill a Mockingbird, starring Jeff Daniels as Atticus, will instead start performances as scheduled at the Shubert Theater, currently home to Hello, Dolly!, on November 1.
