On Tuesday, Halestorm Entertainment and its two owners sued Joshua, Bryan & Co., an investment company of the late Mormon movie financier Bryan Lampropoulos, and his estate in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City over the funding of “Church Ball.”

The suit alleged the defendants were delinquent in funding “Church Ball” as production costs spiraled over budget, wrote bad checks, nearly caused production to shut down, and substantially delayed the release of “Church Ball” and another collaborative work, “The Home Teachers,” which hurt profits.

To complete the production of “Church Ball,” Halestorm claimed it had to get alternative financing at high interest rates, and even had to cut the salaries of its owners, David Hunter and Kurt Patrick Brian, also known as Kurt Hale.

Hale, the grandson of Ruth and Nathan Hale, co-founders of Hale Center Theater in Orem and the Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley, filed for bankruptcy last year.

Halestorm also accused the defendants of overspending to charter a private jet to Los Angeles from Salt Lake City even though “reasonably priced coach class tickets have already been purchased,” the suit said.

Tuesday’s suit was filed after attempts at settling two lawsuits brought in 2007 by Lampropoulos and his company against Halestorm failed.

Both cases, which were filed in 4th District Court, had stalled after Lampropoulos, 36, died in the middle of settlement talks. But they are now reinstated after his wife, Deanna, took over management of his claims.

In one case, Lampropoulos, son of Merit Medical chairman and former Utah gubernatorial candidate Fred Lampropoulos, and Joshua, Bryan & Co. sued Halestorm and its owners for at least $6 million plus punitive damages, alleging Halestorm went significantly over budget in making “Church Ball” and never repaid Lampropoulos for his investment and his cut of the movie’s profits.

The suit said the partnership appeared to work in “The Home Teachers,” which was produced within budget for about $430,000.

But the relationship deteriorated during the making of “Church Ball.”

Lampropoulos alleged that Halestorm asked for a bigger budget, eventually pushing production costs to $1.2 million –more than double the original budget of $500,000– so that it could hire actors from the Screen Actors Guild. The actors hired included former child star Gary Coleman, now a Santaquin resident; comedian Fred Willard and Clint Howard, brother of Ron Howard.

Not only did Lampropoulos not approve the larger budget in advance and was allegedly forced to pay more money to keep “Church Ball” from folding, Halestorm also racked up “unnecessary expenses.” These included renting about 20 motor homes for the actors, 24-hour catering, hiring a cast assistant and spending more than $50,000 to write original music for the film instead of creating a soundtrack with pre-existing music, the suit said.

Halestorm also broke an agreement to not work on other movies until “Church Ball” was completed. Lampropoulos blamed the company’s owners for failing to use their “best efforts” to create a quality film, when they allegedly simultaneously worked on other Mormon-themed movies, such as “Mobsters and Mormons,” “Sons of Provo,” and “The Book of Mormon Movie” — hurting “Church Ball’s” profits.

The suit said Joshua, Bryan & Co. contributed about $1.8 million for “Church Ball” and “The Home Teachers,” but only recovered about $450,000 to date. None of the revenues from “Church Ball’s” profits, and sales of products including a “Church Ball” board game, went to Joshua, Bryan & Co. Instead, Halestorm allegedly formed multiple companies to hide its assets, the suit said.

Lampropoulos also brought another suit against Halestorm and two joint venture partnerships in 2007, alleging they failed to pay him for his investment in “The Singles Ward” and “The R.M.”

He claimed he invested about $125,000 in both movies, but has yet to recover his original investment and royalties.

Halestorm Attorney Joseph Pia declined to comment on the cases. Attorneys for Lampropoulos’s company also declined comment.