Eva Green has arrived at the High Court today to give evidence in the £4million legal battle over a canned sci-fi movie as a message from a producer claimed the Hollywood star felt she ‘would rather eat tumours’ than make the movie.
The Casino Royale star, 42, had been set to star in A Patriot before production was shut down in October 2019.
She is now suing production company White Lantern Films, claiming she is entitled to her $1million (£810,000) fee for the movie, despite its cancellation. She insists she is being unfairly painted as a ‘diva’.
White Lantern Films is defending the case and bringing a counterclaim against the French actress, alleging she made ‘unreasonable demands’ and undermined the film’s production.
Ms Green, who was wearing black sunglasses and a green velvet jacket in the January sunshine in London this morning, is expected to enter the witness box this afternoon.
Today the court heard that a message from one of the producers of the film had claimed that Eva Green ‘would rather eat tumours’ than make the movie before the project was shut down.
Eva Green arrives at the Rolls Building, London, for her High Court legal action over payment for a shuttered film project.
A lawyer for Ms Green accused producers of a collapsed film of trying to damage the performer’s reputation by depicting her as a ‘diva.’
The French actress, who played Vesper Lynd in James Bond thriller ‘Casino Royale,’ is suing producers for a $1 million fee she says she is owed for ‘A Patriot.’
This morning the film’s writer and director Dan Pringle was giving evidence. he asked about a message he sent when financing of the film was potentially being restructured, and would have given ‘complete control’ to Jake Seal.
The High Court head last week that Ms Green had claimed Mr Seal, an executive producer, was planning to make a ‘cheap B movie’, describing him as ‘the devil’ and ‘evil’.
Mr Pringle said in a message that he, Ms Green and producer Adam Merrifield were discussing if they “wish to proceed with the new structure”, but added: “As of right now, obviously all three of us would rather eat tumours”.
Discussing this today he said: ‘I regret saying that, as I shouldn’t be speaking on behalf of Adam and Eva’.
The French actress is due to enter the witness box to give evidence in the claim on Monday, the third day of the trial in London.
At the start of the trial on Thursday, Max Mallin KC, for White Lantern, claimed that Ms Green had an ‘animosity’ towards a vision for the film held by one of the film’s executive producers, Jake Seal.
The barrister said that in exchanges with her agent and the film’s director, Ms Green also branded production manager Terry Bird as a ‘f****** moron’, and local crew members as ‘sh***y peasants… from Hampshire’.
However, Ms Green’s barrister Edmund Cullen KC said that the legal battle was ‘designed to paint my client as a diva to win headlines and damage her reputation’.
Bond girl Eva Green, pictured in Casino Royale with Daniel Craig, is at the High Court in a legal battle over the demise of a £4 million film project
Producers Terry Bird (left) and Jake Seal were mentioned in the texts and slated by Ms Green
Mr Cullen later said that the messages ‘must be seen in context’ of negotiations over buying the rights to the script.
Describing the film as a ‘passion project’, Mr Cullen said the actress ‘bent over backwards’ to make the film but ‘the financial plan was never going to work’.
Ms Green expected to begin her evidence in the afternoon. The trial continues.
