contract suits against  Sagan, Carl (qv)s estate and Warner Brothers, halting the film.  He claimed that Sagan had developed the "Contact" premise for  Zoetrope Studios (possibly for a Childrens Television Workshop  program). The suit alleged that Sagan had not paid the required  $250,000 when he had turned the concept into a novel, and in any  event was prohibited from selling the film rights to the story.