Summary: Gerard Butler says he was verbally promised over $4 million to star in a movie that was never made.
Law student-turned-movie star Gerard Butler is suing a production company for not paying him. In a Thursday hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court, Judge Mitchell Beckloff said the producers of the film needed to respond to the case.
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The Scottish-born actor was verbally promised $4 million to star in Motor City, and he said he was told he would be paid whether or not the movie was made. He said he turned down other roles to clear his schedule for Motor City, which he was informed would film in mid-September of 2012.
Motor City was abruptly cancelled in August of 2012, and Butler was never paid. He said he was so gung-ho about the movie that he had paid nearly $850,000 to the movie Olympus Has Fallen so he could finish shooting earlier to get on schedule to film Motor City.
Butler is suing the production company Randall Emmett/George Furla Productions, who faced a related arbitration claim from Motor City’s financier. Butler filed the lawsuit in 2013 for breach of oral contract, and other claims.
The producers, Emmett and Furla, tried to get the case dismissed. They said that they had spoken about the deal but had never put anything in writing. Therefore, Butler’s logic that anything that is said becomes binding would create problems.
Their attorney, Rick Rosenthal, said to The Hollywood Reporter, “If that was the law, we’d be in a mess.”
Judge Beckloff seemed to agree that it would be “ridiculous” to normally consider a promise in a phone call for $4 million to hold up in court, but he wanted more context. He will issue an opinion next week.
Based on what we know so far, should Butler be entitled to money promised orally? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter and The Daily Record