Red Granite Pictures is currently in talks with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle a lawsuit alleging that its blockbuster hit "The Wolf of Wall Street" was funded by money allegedly siphoned from 1MDB, Bloomberg reported today. 

According to Bloomberg, lawyers for Red Granite Pictures had on Tuesday requested a federal judge in Los Angeles to extend a deadline in the lawsuit so that they can “focus on their ongoing negotiations.”

The report however said that Matthew Schwartz, a lawyer for Red Granite Pictures, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the negotiations. 

Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the US attorney’s office in Los Angeles, similarly declined to comment on the case. 

Malaysiakini is unable to independently verify the report.

The DOJ had previously identified Red Granite's chief executive Riza Aziz, the stepson of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, as a central figure in its civil forfeiture suit which seeks the return of US$1 billion in assets allegedly acquired with money linked to 1MDB.

The assets include mansions in Beverly Hills, California, luxury condos in New York, art works, as well as future proceeds from ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. 

The DOJ in its suit said Red Granite had received US$64 million of 1MDB-linked funds for production of the Martin Scorcese movie in 2013.

At the time, Red Granite said its executives had unknowingly used stolen funds to produce the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio which eventually grossed US$392 million in worldwide ticket sales. 

In August last year, it was reported that Red Granite had agreed to keep all future profits earned from "The Wolf of Wall Street" separate pending outcome of the DOJ’s suit.