Venture Capital Firm Sues Rizvi Traverse, Claims It Was Taken On Indie Pic Tekken

A venturecapital and private equity firm has sued Rizvi Traverse Management,alleging thatRizvi misled itabout the commercial viability of the 2010 box office bomb “Tekken.” (Rizvi is the private equity firm with multiple Hollywood investments:stakes in ICM, Playboy Enterprises, and Summit Entertainment.) Houston-based Small Ventures claimsthat Rizvi convinced it to invest more than $10M in thevideo game adaptation, falsely claiming that box office success was notcritical becausethe money would be recoupedfrom pre-sold foreign rights. Releasedin a handful of smaller foreign territories, Tekken has taken in less than a million dollars. Rizvi co-founders John Giampatropni and Suhail Rizvialso werenamed in the suit, which was filedTuesday in federal court in Houston, and seeks damages, restitution and legal fees. Small Ventures is represented by Gregory Casas of law firm Greenberg Trauring.