// Iron Cross vs Variety: 0-1//

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge tossed out a suit against Variety from an indie-film producer who claimed the trade duped him into buying awards advertising before slamming his movie.

Variety used the front page of its print edition to trumpet the court victory over “Iron Cross” filmmaker Joshua Newton, who was ordered by the judge to pay the paper’s legal fees.

“We are extremely pleased with the judge’s ruling,” wrote Variety president Neil Stiles. “It is a shame that a filmmaker saw fit to use the law in this way, but good sense and justice prevailed. We hope that this decision sends a clear message against meritless lawsuits being filed against Variety, (parent company) Reed Elsevier or any other news organization.”

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(In separate legal action, Variety recently filed a lawsuit against obscure Southern California punk band The Vandals for allegedly copying its logo in its album art.)

The producers of “Iron Cross” sued Variety in March, claiming the trade lured the indie film into a $400,000 promotion campaign with promises of Oscar attention that would lead to a major distribution deal — then trashing it all with a scathing review.

The lawsuit weaves a narrative that begins with Variety bigwigs telling Calibra Pictures that “Iron Cross” was a real contender — even before seeing it. The producers and the trade agreed to a campaign that would include front-page ads, DVD inserts and inclusion in the trade’s screening series.

The court ruled that Variety was merely exercising its First Amendment rights when it ran the review, thus rendering the producers’ complaint meritless.

Word of Variety’s legal victory arrived in a print edition featuring no less than five pages of tribute adverising for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who was the subject of a Variety special-issue package Monday. The trade also filled itself with Bruckheimer tribute ads in 2006, when it made the filmmaker its “Showman of the Year.”