On Location: Gregg Allman sues producers of ‘Midnight Rider’

Further clouding efforts to revive production of the movie “Midnight Rider,” Gregg Allman now says the movie’s producers don’t have the right to tell his story.

The rock and blues singer, and a founder member of Allman Brothers Band, has filed a lawsuit in Savannah, Ga., against Unclaimed Freight Productions, seeking to halt production of “Midnight Rider.”

The complaint filed April 28 alleges producers lost their rights to film the movie after a 27-year-old camera assistant was killed in February on the first day of filming of the movie. “Midnight Rider” is based on Allman’s autobiography “My Cross to Bear,” which he wrote with Alan Light.

Sarah Jones, 27, was killed and several crew members were injured when a freight train crashed into the crew as they were filming a dream sequence on a historic train trestle in Doctortown, Ga.

The accident caused the production to shut down and has prompted multiple investigations by various federal and state agencies. Jones’ family is expected to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Unclaimed Freight as early as next week.

The owners of Unclaimed Freight, Randall Miller and his wife, Jody Savin, had planned to resume filming “Midnight Rider” in Los Angeles in June, according to officials with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

But Allman’s lawsuit raises further questions about the movie’s future. Last month, “Midnight Rider” star William Hurt, who was set to play Allman, pulled out of the film. Hurt had raised questions about the safety of the crew shortly before the accident occurred.

Friends and colleagues of Jones also set up a Facebook page calling for the crew to boycott “Midnight Rider” in the wake of the accident, which sparked a nationwide campaign to improve safety on film sets.

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