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Eva Green initiates a lawsuit over an unfinished film. London: On Thursday, the High Court in London heard a protracted legal battle over a never-made film featuring French actress Eva Green.
Green, who played with Daniel Craig in the James Bond blockbuster "Casino Royale", is demanding reimbursement of her performance salary for an unsuccessful sci-fi production named "A Patriot".
The 42-year-old actress is suing White Lantern Film, a UK-based production firm, claiming she is still entitled to her $1 million (£810,000) fee.
The project, which was announced in 2018, was cancelled the following year.
Green sued, claiming she owed the amount according to a "pay or play" contract agreement. She is also requesting payment for her legal expenses.
White Lantern Film filed a counter-suit, saying that she sabotaged the £4 million film by making "unreasonable demands" and withdrawing from the main part.
The trial is slated to continue nine days, with a verdict issued by the court at a later date.
Green, who was represented by her lawyer Edmund Cullen, did not attend at the first full hearing on Thursday, but she is scheduled to testify on Monday.
Cullen stated that the actress "wanted the picture to be created, and she went over backwards to get this done," calling it a "passion project" for which she was an executive producer.
He accused the production firm of portraying Green as a "diva" in order to garner attention and harm her image.
A lawyer representing White Lantern, Max Mallin, claimed Green had displayed a "vitriolic antipathy" to manufacturing plans and was "increasingly unwilling to be part".
"We have a major divide between Eva Green's expectations and the picture she intended to create, and what the budget could afford," he told the court.
Mallin cited text conversations in which she strongly criticised numerous members of the production team in written discussions.
Green refers to the film's executive producer Jake Seal as a "devious sociopath" and production manager Terry Bird as a "moron" in them.
Green's "language is unrestrained and at times forcefully and probably recklessly delivered," according to Cullen.
But he accused White Lantern of trying to "laid every setback of the production at Ms Green's feet" while in fact the project was in a "state of utter dysfunction". (AFP)
