Broadway's "Spider-Man" producers, Taymor, near settlement, again

Director Julie Taymor poses at the premiere of her film ''The Tempest'' in Hollywood December 6, 2010.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The producers of "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark" and Julie Taymor, the musical's ousted director, are once again ready to settle their long-running court case, a court filing showed on Wednesday.

"We anticipate notifying the Court within the next week that a final settlement agreement has been executed," attorney Charles T. Spada, who represents Taymor, wrote in a January 22 letter to U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan.

The letter comes less than two weeks after the parties resumed litigation after failing to reach a final settlement of Taymor's copyright infringement lawsuit, court records show.

The latest development comes five months after Taymor had reached a settlement in principle with 8 Legged Productions, the producer, in the copyright infringement case

"Spider-Man," which became a hit, got off to a disastrous start in 2010 with opening night delays, injured actors and the firing of Taymor, who won a Tony Award for her work on "The Lion King." She sued 8 Legged Productions in November 2011.

Any settlement is conditioned on 8 Legged Productions coming to terms with Marvel Entertainment, a unit of Walt Disney Co, to extend its license to produce the musical in other venues, Spada wrote in a December 19 letter to the judge.

In Wednesday's letter, Spada said an agreement between the producer and Marvel to amend the license is likely within days.

Taymor and 8 Legged Productions intend to execute their agreement at the same time, the letter said.

"We are moving closer to finalizing the settlement," Dale Cendali, a lawyer for 8 Legged Productions, said in an email.

A spokesperson for Marvel didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is Julie Taymor et al v. 8 Legged Productions et al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-cv-8002.

(Reporting By Karen Freifeld; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)