News

Aug 04, 2023

Eva Green Painted as 'Diva' in 'A Patriot' Lawsuit, Her Lawyer Says

By K.J. Yossman Eva Green’s lawyer said a lawsuit over the

By K.J. Yossman

Eva Green's lawyer said a lawsuit over the film "A Patriot," which fell apart in 2019, was designed "to paint my client as a diva […] to damage her reputation."

Green is suing White Lantern (Britannica) Ltd for her fee for the film, totalling approximately $1.04 million, which she says is owed to her under her "pay or play" agreement. White Lantern are counter-suing, accusing Green of "fraudulently misrepresent[ing] that she was ready, willing and able to perform her contractual obligations" and that she never had any intention of playing in the film.

In legal documents, White Lantern posit that Green referred to the film's lenders as "arseholes" and referred to one of the company's producers, Jake Seal, as a "moron" and "pure vomit."

Green's lawyer, Edmund Cullen KC, set out the actor's case on Thursday morning at London's High Court. Green was not in court after the case was pushed back by two days and clashed with another engagement. Cullen apologized for the actor's absence, telling Mr Justice Michael Green, "As a self-employed performer, this case is important to her but so is her career."

Green's case is that "A Patriot," which was to have been directed by Dan Pringle, never got off the ground after failing to secure finance or engage key figures including Helen Hunt and Charles Dance (both of whom were attached but never signed contracts) or even a director of photography.

"We say this whole production was a shambles from beginning to end because it was built on sand," Cullen said.

He said that the actor, who was set to play Kate Jones, a Border Corps captain in a futuristic authoritarian state, was passionate about the script and the themes of the film, which included the environment.

Green is being counter-sued by White Lantern, of which Pringle was originally a director alongside producer Adam Merrifield. The production company is now owned by Sherborne Media Finance, a finance outfit who provided a bridging loan for the original film while the producers attempted to secure production finance. Sherborne were also responsible for parachuting in producer Jake Seal onto the production "to try and construct a finance plan to provide an exit."

Cullen says Sherborne never succeeded in securing that exit and instead found themselves on the hook for financing the entire production themselves.

Cullen suggested that the company never intended to finance the production, which is one of the reasons the film eventually fell apart.

He says Green was always prepared to perform when called upon but with the start date and location moving constantly, that never happened.

In the afternoon, Max Mallin KC, representing White Lantern, made his opening statements, saying of Green's claim that the film was never going to go into production, "Nothing could be further from the truth."

Mallin confirmed that there had been finance issues but said Sherborne had every intention of completing the project. He alleges that Green "conspired" with Pringle and Merrifield to effectively sabotage the film so that they could buy back the script and make it themselves, without Seal or Sherborne's involvement.

The case continues.