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Eva Green Hits Back At Lawsuit Over UK Sci-Fi ‘A Patriot’, Producer White Lantern Responds — Update

UPDATE ON THUR AUG 13, 02:35 AM PST: The war of words between Eva Green and producer White Lantern Film continues. Below is the latest update from White Lantern in response to comments from Green’s lawyers earlier this week. The legal dispute relates to Green’s claim she is owed $1M and a counter claim the actress derailed UK sci-fi project A Patriot when she dropped out of the lead role.

‘STATEMENT FROM WHITE LANTERN FILM (BRITANNICA) LIMITED (“WLFB”):

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Ms Green provided no acting services to this film, never set foot on set, and never attended pre-production. What may “sadden” her is that, despite breaching her contract, she is not entitled to a million-dollar fee.

In WLFB’s view, her legal claim is without merit, has no basis in the facts and demonstrates the same unreasonable behaviour that the company alleges shuttered a promising film project that had been years in the making. WLFB is confident in its case and looks forward to presenting its full evidence at trial.

WLFB is the party that has suffered losses. As a small, independent producer, and in good faith, the company borrowed and spent significant sums to attach Ms Green to the film. It also paid members of her team and other preparatory expenses. In breach of contract, she and her team then unilaterally withdrew from the production before it started filming, and without notice. WLFB has suffered financial losses and quantifiable damages of more than $4 million, which it is going to court to recover.

Ms Green initiated this lawsuit by seeking payment of $1 million for a film which did not proceed to production. WLFB responded by filing a defence and counter claim which it believes set out what happened accurately and in detail. They include direct quotes from Ms Green’s personal emails as well as other facts which are essentially not in dispute. WLFB believe the facts speak for themselves.’

ORIGINAL STORY ON AUG 11, 11.54 AM PST: Eva Green’s legal team have hit back at claims the actress derailed UK sci-fi project A Patriot when she dropped out of the lead role.

Producer White Lantern (Britannica) Ltd has filed a High Court motion claiming Green departed the film after her “unreasonable demands” were not met, as per a report in the Evening Standard. The company insists it is owed more than £1M ($1.3M) and further profits that would have been generated by the movie.

In turn, Green is suing the producers for a £800,000 ($1M) fee that she is said to be owed even though the film did not progress to production due to her “pay or play” contract.

Today, Green via her lawyers said that White Lantern was “in breach of contract” and that the allegations made against her were “erroneous”. The statement said she would be responding in court papers in due course.

“Ms Green was at all times ready to perform her contract, and she remained willing and able to proceed in reliance thereon. It was the bridge financiers and White Lantern who unilaterally shut down the production in early October 2019,” the statement reads.

“Ms Green is an actor with an unblemished professional reputation. In a career spanning over 20 years, Ms Green has never once been in breach of her contractual obligations. Ms Green is confident that she will be entirely vindicated in these proceedings and that the court will establish the true facts,” it continues.

Deadline has reached out to White Lantern for comment.

The £4M ($5.2M) budgeted A Patriot had been through different cast iterations but was set to star Green alongside Charles Dance and Helen Hunt ahead of scheduled production in summer 2019.

The statement from Green’s lawyers Archerfield & Partners, which Variety first reported, is available in full below.

This Statement is being made on behalf of Eva Green, for the sake of clarity, in light of recent reports in the media of the legal action she has brought against White Lantern Film (Britannica) Ltd relating to a proposed feature film provisionally entitled “A Patriot”. Ms Green initiated the legal proceedings against White Lantern Film (Britannica) Limited because they are in breach of contract. All the details of Ms Green’s legal action are set out within her initial claim lodged at the London High Court on 4 June. In response White Lantern has made a number of erroneous allegations which Ms Green totally denies and will be responding to in court papers in due course. Ms Green was at all times ready to perform her contract, and she remained willing and able to proceed in reliance thereon. It was the bridge financiers and White Lantern who unilaterally shut down the production in early October 2019.

Ms Green is an actor with an unblemished professional reputation. In a career spanning over 20 years, Ms Green has never once been in breach of her contractual obligations. Ms Green is confident that she will be entirely vindicated in these proceedings and that the court will establish the true facts – although she is saddened that she has found it necessary to go to these lengths to deal with the behaviour of the defendants.

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