Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz doesn’t have to pay novelist Clive Cussler $8.5 million for a “Dirk Pitt” book he optioned to make into a movie after winning a May jury verdict that Cussler breached the contract.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John Shook on Jan. 4 ruled that Anschutz’s Bristol Bay Productions will get back the money, held in escrow by the court, Marvin Putnam, a lawyer representing Anschutz’s company, said today in a phone interview.
A Los Angeles jury on May 15 awarded Anschutz $5 million in damages after a 14-week trial over who was responsible for the box-office failure of “Sahara,” a 2005 movie based on one of Cussler’s “Dirk Pitt” adventure books. “Sahara” was part of a two-book, $20-million contract between Cussler and Anschutz’s movie company, and Shook had to decide whether Cussler was entitled to the unpaid balance of the agreement.
Cussler sued in 2004, claiming Anschutz’s company, then named Crusader Entertainment, breached contract provisions giving him the right to approve changes to the screenplay for “Sahara.” The movie starred Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz and was directed by Breck Eisner, the son of former Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner. The film lost about $105 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Bert Fields, a lawyer representing Cussler, didn’t immediately return a call to his office.
The case is Clive Cussler v. Crusader Entertainment, BC309114, Los Angeles County Superior Court.
