Lawsuit rejected in Gregg Allman film accident; ruling comes days before singer dies

Four days before Gregg Allman died at his home in Savannah, a federal judge ruled against the makers of a film about his life.

In 2014, filming on the biographical movie “Midnight Rider” was halted after 27-year-old camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed in a train accident.

Actor William Hurt, who was hired to play Allman, also scrambled from the train tracks as several people were hurt by debris when the train hit a bed that had been pushed onto the tracks for the scene.

Production company Film Allman LLC did not have permission from CSX to film a dream sequence on a train trestle, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II, of Los Angeles, said in dismissing some of the lawsuit’s claims in December.

Wright’s May 23 ruling tossed out Allman LLC’s lawsuit filed in August 2014 against insurers New York Marine and General Insurance Co., as reported by the Fulton Daily Report.

Allman LLC originally sought $1.6 million for costs associated with canceling the project, but the dollar figure grew as lawsuits were filed against the production company.

Wright dismissed the suit after the insurers paid out the policy’s maximum $5 million toward a $6.5 million settlement with Jones’ family.

Although director Randall Miller wanted to go ahead with the movie, the project was canceled after Allman sued to halt the film, saying the production had harmed his reputation.

Allman, 69, died Saturday due to complications from liver cancer.

This story was originally published May 31, 2017 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Lawsuit rejected in Gregg Allman film accident; ruling comes days before singer dies."