Leonora Ann Darby, an executive producer on the horror hit "Obsession," is suing the film's production company for allegedly cutting her out of profits.

Darby filed a 135-page complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Tea Shop Productions, its Delaware affiliate The Tea Shop & Film Company, and co-founders James Harris and Mark Lane, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday, Sept. 2. The complaint lists 10 causes of action, including breach of contract, whistleblower retaliation and unfair competition. Darby has demanded a jury trial.

The stakes are enormous.

"Obsession," written and directed by Curry Barker, was made for roughly $750,000 and has earned more than $500 million worldwide since Focus Features released it in May. That makes it Focus Features' highest-grossing film ever, according to a Comcast/Universal press release.

Darby, who rose to become one of three producers at the U.K.-based Tea Shop, claims a 2024 agreement entitled her to a third of the net profits the company receives on films she lead-produced. Tea Shop has honored that arrangement on other projects, the lawsuit says, but not on "Obsession."

The dispute hinges on a credit. Darby appears on screen as an executive producer rather than a producer. She alleges the company made that decision despite Mark Lane's absence from the production in 2025 and limited involvement with the film. The profit deal applies only to films she lead-produced, making the distinction central to the case.

The complaint describes Darby stepping in when the edit had been taken away from Barker and handed to a new editor. The film was "mired in an edit that was not working," the suit says.

She claims she delivered critical creative notes, pushed for the edit to return to Barker, recommended reshoots and handled post-production work that got the film to its Toronto International Film Festival premiere.

Focus bought it there for about $16.2 million, according to the lawsuit. Once the film became a hit, Darby alleges she was iced out. She was not invited to the Los Angeles premiere and was excluded from major trade coverage, the Times reported. A May profile of Harris and Lane did not name her. Her name was added in August after she complained.

Darby was paid $300,000 out of the film's initial minimum guarantee after Tea Shop directed her company, Runt Productions, to invoice for the work. The suit argues that payment was fixed compensation for producing services, not a buyout of her profit share.

Tea Shop has disputed the claims. In an Aug. 13 letter attached to the complaint, the company's lawyer wrote that Darby "was an employee and, subsequently, a consultant" with no ownership stake. The letter states the parties' written agreement does not entitle her to profit participation on "Obsession."

"Ms. Darby has brought serious and substantial claims, supported by a detailed factual record," her attorney Thomas K. Richards of Beverly Hills firm Singh, Singh & Trauben said in a statement to the Times.

The case is pending in LA County Superior Court. No hearing date has been announced.