"King Lear" premiered at Cannes on May 17, 1987, and, after a brief two-week run in the US, it did not appear in cinemas for another fifteen years. It was re-released in 2002 by French distributor Bodega Films, but the company and Godard were sued by Viviane Forrester, the author of one of the literary quotations used in the film, for infringing her copyright. Godard and Bodega were both fined €5,000 and "King Lear" was withdrawn after two years.