Posted on 02/01/2007 8:15:34 PM PST by BurbankKarl
Attorneys for Philip Anschutz allege as part of a lawsuit going to trial this week that author Clive Cussler duped the Denver industrialist into paying $10 million for film rights to the adventure novel "Sahara" by flagrantly inflating his book sales to more than 100 million copies.
"Cussler and his agent had gotten away with these numbers for years," said Alan Rader, Anschutz's lawyer. "It was a lie and it doomed the movie."
The claim is "ridiculous," Cussler said this morning outside a Los Angeles Superior Court room. "They wanted the book. They solicited us."
The allegations surfaced at the start of a trial that seeks to settle a long-running dispute over who is responsible for Anschutz's company losing $105 million on "Sahara," the 2005 action movie starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz.
The trial, which includes claims of sabotage, fraud, profligate spending and racism, is expected to provide a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the often mysterious world of moviemaking. Lawyers are expected to finish picking a jury today and begin opening arguments Friday.
Among those on the witness list are Anschutz, the secretive, 67-year-old multibillionaire who shuns publicity; former Paramount Pictures Chairwoman Sherry Lansing; Breck Eisner, the son of the former Walt Disney Co. chairman; McConaughey, who also served as executive producer, and Cussler, the 75-year-old bestselling author.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
book ping
Heck, the book stunk too. Most of his books stink.
Regards,
TS
There are two Dirk Pitts now...which one?
Most of his books suck and thus, the movie stunk as well.
Plus you have a gay Matthew McConaughey and lesbian Penelope Cruz as the lead actors who have the on screen chemistry of.....say a gay kissing a lesbian.
The book-to-film industry still hasn't lived down 'Johnathan Livingston Seagull.' :-)
His early books were my absolute favorite reads period, I lost track how many times I read Raise the Titanic, his novels the last decade though are slightly below par but still to me are good action novels. I heard the real reason Sahara stunk was it was directed buy Brock Eisner the son of Michael Eisner late CEO of the Walt Disney company.
I was upset the real main part of the film was the omission of the role Abraham Lincoln had in the storyline.If anyone wants to really know then get the original novel and read it, not the movie version.
It's easy to find out how many copies of a book have reportedly been sold.
Steven Hunter's characters would make for a good book. Bob the Nailer or his daddy Earl Swaggert.
'Sahara' was one of the worst movies I ever had the misfortune to put into my DVD player.
I suffered through 3/4 of it before I yanked it out and threw it away.
Let me add for clarification that 'Sahara' was at least as bad as 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' and Peter Jackson's 'King Kong'. Movies just don't get any worse.
W.E.B. Griffith has good characters in his Corps series too.
Penelope Cruz, lesbian? When did that happen?
I guess I'll be the one to disagree. Although I like Cussler's books, at least until the mid 90's, I also throughly enjoyed this movie.
There was no way to fit in although the different plots from the book. Good action, good characters, and a fun movie that the whole family can see. No nudity or extreme language.
Also I want to add that Cussler did everything he could to sabotage the movie. He is a control freak that went crazy when they made changes to the book.
She's not. Some people are just jealous.
FMCDH(BITS)
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