- Phantom Studios sued JioStar for Rs 250 crore over unauthorized use of Queen's rights
- Phantom Studios owns 50% rights to Queen, including sequel and adaptation rights
- Phantom filed the case in Bombay High Court after failed settlement talks
Kangana Ranaut's Queen 2, the sequel to the 2014 coming-of-age film, has landed in legal trouble as Phantom Studios sued JioStar for Rs 250 crore over the "unauthorised use" of its intellectual property. Phantom Studios holds 50% of the rights to Queen, including the right to make sequels. It has not consented to any sequels, adaptations, or derivative works of the film so far.
The case has been filed in the Bombay High Court after "repeated communication" about the alleged infringement and "settlement discussions" between the two parties, according to Mid-Day.
"Their non-action is what has led to Phantom Studios suing them for infringement. There was even a public notice put out and multiple communications sent to Vikas and JioStar as well, informing them before this step was taken," a source close to the development told the publication.
Another insider said Phantom Studios was prompted to take the legal route after learning that Queen 2 had wrapped up.
Queen 2 reunites Kangana Ranaut with director Vikas Bahl, who helmed the 2014 film. Shooting started in early 2026, and they wrapped just a couple of days ago. Kangana Ranaut shared a BTS pic from the set on her Instagram Stories in which she is seen feeding a slice of cake to the director.
Queen and the revival of Phantom
Queen was originally produced by Phantom Films, which was founded by Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, and Madhu Mantena.
It even won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. However, after Bahl's name surfaced during the MeToo movement, disagreements arose among the four founding members.
As the founders left the company one by one, Phantom Films was disbanded in 2019. Mantena, along with producer Sheetal Talwar, revived the company in 2022 as Phantom Studios, which produced Advait Chandan's romantic comedy Loveyapa, starring Junaid Khan and Khushi Kapoor, last year.
Queen, led by Kangana Ranaut, was a landmark film in her career, becoming a Rs 100-crore earner at the box office and cementing her position as a bankable star.