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Eva Green sued for allegedly killing off £4 million film project A Patriot with 'unreasonable demands'

Eva Green: Dave Benett
Eva Green: Dave Benett

Film star Eva Green has been accused in a High Court showdown of torpedoing a £4 million sci-fi thriller when her “unreasonable demands” were not met.

The former Bond actress agreed last year to star alongside Helen Hunt and Charles Dance in A Patriot, but production shut down when she allegedly abandoned the project.

Green, who was also the executive producer, wanted to be surrounded by an “army of kind and talented people”, according to film company White Lantern (Britannica) Ltd, despite being told it would blow the budget of the movie.

She is accused of demanding the hiring of a string of crew members, including visual effects supervisor George Zwier and her own team of personal assistants, stating: “I cannot work without them.”

Helen Hunt (Getty Images for Christian Siria)
Helen Hunt (Getty Images for Christian Siria)

Green, who recently starred in BBC1’s The Luminaries, launched legal action against White Lantern last month, suing for £800,000, the fee she says she is owed from the failed project.

The actress says she had a “pay or play” agreement, entitling her to payment even though the film failed to go ahead.

The film company insists Green owes it more than £1 million. It also wants the actress to make up for “profits that the film would have generated”, which could run to more than £100 million.

A deal was struck in May last year for the actress to play the part of Kate Jones, a Border Corps captain in a futuristic authoritarian state, with British writer Dan Pringle directing his own original screenplay with a £4 million budget.

In High Court papers, White Lantern set out how it believes the project came off the rails when production was switched from Ireland to Black Hangar Studios in Hampshire last summer.

Charles Dance (Dave Benett)
Charles Dance (Dave Benett)

“Ms Green engaged in a course of conduct that demonstrated that she had no intention and/or desire to complete the production of the film,” said Max Mallin QC, for White Lantern. “[Her] demands were unreasonable … [They] created significant distraction, delay and additional costs to White Lantern’s management and their progress of soft and hard pre-production.”

The film company claims Green was told producer Paul Sarony would be “incredibly expensive” and largely redundant on set, but she allegedly insisted: “We absolutely need him on board otherwise the ship will sink.”

Green is said to have insisted that script supervisor Jeanette McGrath was hired too, saying: “Please, we really need Jeanette on board for the quality of the film.” The actress allegedly said of her team of assistants: “They cannot work for less and I cannot work without them.”

White Lantern claims Green’s hiring demands would have added up to £250,000 to the budget, though she had offered to pay some of the bills out of her own fee.

In her writ, Green says Sherborne Media Finance took over White Lantern in February and “purported to give notice of termination of the artist agreement”, but she says it was issued too late.

The claims have been lodged with the court, but have not yet gone before a judge.

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