Actress Eva Green wins London court case over fee for failed film

HOLLYWOOD actress Eva Green on Friday won a legal fight with producers and financiers whom she sued in London’s High Court for her fee for a failed film in which she was to star.

The French actress, whose film credits include the James Bond movie Casino Royale, sued White Lantern Films and SMC Specialty Finance for the $1 million fee she said she was owed for the planned independent movie A Patriot, in which she was to play the lead role as a soldier.

Judge Michael Green said in a written ruling that Eva Green was entitled to payment of the $1-million fee.

The production company had launched a counter claim against Ms. Green for breach of contract, blaming her for the science fiction film’s failure before it went into production in late 2019, saying she had never intended it to go ahead. Ms. Green, 42, appeared in court in January to say she had become concerned the film’s production team had been cutting corners, citing how her stunt training had been reduced from four weeks to five days.

White Lantern’s lawyers said Ms. Green, also an executive producer on the project, had made unreasonable demands about crew, locations, and equipment.

They cited WhatsApp messages from Ms. Green in which she described a producer as a “f**king moron” who should be fired and another as “evil”. She described funders of the movie as “a**eholes” and some proposed crew members as “s**tty peasants”.

But the judge said that, while Ms. Green “may have said some extremely unpleasant things” about the film’s producer and crew, “this was born from a genuine feeling of concern that any film…would be of very low quality”.

“I fought tooth and nail to defend the beautiful film that I loved and had signed on for,” Ms. Green said in a statement. “A film that spoke of a cause I hold dear — climate change — and warned of the resource wars and mass migration that would occur if we don’t address the problem.

“I stood my ground and, this time, justice prevailed.”White Lantern Films and SMC Specialty Finance said in a statement: “We are naturally disappointed by today’s judgment and the court’s findings. We are carefully considering our options as to potential next steps, including appeal.” — Reuters