18 January 2012 Last updated at 04:03 ET

Spider-Man producers sue former director Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor (centre) was sacked from the show last March

The producers of the Spider-Man musical are suing the show's ex-director Julie Taymor, claiming she developed a "hallucinogenic" show.

Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris added it was "disjointed" and Taymor refused to make changes when it faced problems.

Taymor, who was sacked from the Broadway show in March, sued the producers over unpaid royalties.

Problematic in the beginning, the show recently took the highest single-week takings in Broadway history.

Earlier this month it was reported that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which features music by U2's Bono and The Edge, took $2.9m (£1.8m) over nine performances during the Christmas period.

Poor reviews

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark cost $75m (£48m) to make and is the most expensive Broadway show to be produced.

Initially it was beset with problems, which included injuries to some of the cast members, opening night delays and poor reviews.

Taymor, who won a Tony award for The Lion King, worked on the musical's original book before she left the show.

The show has recovered from initially bad reviews to play to sell-out audiences

Her legal action claimed that after she departed, the producers continued to make "unauthorised and unlawful use" of her written works.

Lawyers representing Cohl and Harris have stated Taymor failed to carry out the duties that were expected of her.

"Taymor refused to develop a musical that followed the original, family-friendly Spider-Man story, which was depicted in the Marvel comic books and the hugely successful motion picture trilogy based on them," the action stated.

"Instead, Taymor, who admits that she was not a fan of the Spider-Man story prior to her involvement with the musical, insisted on developing a dark, disjointed and hallucinogenic musical involving suicide, sex and death."

Charles Spada, who represents Taymor, said the counterclaims were "baseless."

He added that his client would "continue to vigorously seek enforcement of her creative rights" amid the "outrageous mischaracterisations and attempts to besmirch her reputation."