"Talladega Nights" Theme Restaurant in Texas Gets Lawyers On 'Em

A restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas that appears to have been modeled and themed after the Will Ferrell movie Talladega Nights: The Story of Ricky Bobby is facing a lawsuit from a major Hollywood movie studio. The Ricky Bobby Sports Saloon and Restaurant–owned by the fine folks at Rick’s Cabaret International–was slapped with a lawsuit by Columbia Pictures. That’s the studio that owns the comedy movie upon which the restaurant is allegedly based. The lawsuit is seeking a court injunction to shut down the restaurant for violating the film’s copyright restrictions.
We admit that some of the similarities might seem pretty glaring. According to the suit, the restaurant serves a number of items on its menu that borrow lines from the movie–such as special drinks called “Comin’ at Ya Like a Spider Monkey” and decor that features half of Bobby’s famous catchphrase “If you ain’t first…” There’s even a painted stock car near the restaurant’s front door that looks very similar to Ricky’s ride towards the end of the film.
But we think there’s also a matter of serving the public good here. We know that we’ve certainly felt well-served by the high standard of Rick’s Cabaret over the years. Perhaps all of this fighting and feuding should be settled by embracing the important lessons that we all learned at the conclusion of Talladega Nights. That has to be better than the Columbia Pictures lawyers getting all, um….
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aor2eMbXbhI&w=600&h=450]