Eva Green: Actress wins High Court dispute over $1m film fee

Eva Green said she was pleased her "professional reputation has been upheld"

French actress Eva Green has won a High Court case over her $1m (£810,000) fee for a sci-fi film that never got made.

The Casino Royale star sued White Lantern Film, saying she was owed the sum after the film collapsed amid a bitter dispute with producers.

White Lantern claimed her "unreasonable demands" derailed the film, A Patriot.

The company said it is "disappointed by today's judgment and the court's findings" and is considering options, including an appeal.

The ruling follows a trial in January, at which text messages in which Ms Green called one producer a "moron" and another "evil" were revealed.

On Friday, judge Mr Justice Green ruled that the 42-year-old actress was entitled to her fee, and dismissed White Lantern's counterclaim.

He said Ms Green "did not renounce her obligations" under her contract, as White Lantern had claimed, "nor did she commit any repudiatory breaches of it".

Mr Justice Green added: "There is no doubt that Ms Green did not make any conclusive decision or statement that she would not comply with her obligations under the artist agreement.

"Nor could anyone have reasonably understood her to have made such a decision."

However, the judge also described Ms Green as "in some senses a frustrating and unsatisfactory witness".

'Under-prepared for her evidence'

Giving evidence in January, the actress was asked about messages she wrote about the film-makers, including one in which she described two of them as "weak and stupid".

She explained that comment by telling the court: "It's my Frenchness coming out sometimes. Sometimes you say things you don't actually mean. Of course they are not weak and stupid."

In his judgement, Mr Justice Green continued: "For such a perfectionist in her art, she was surprisingly under-prepared for her evidence."

He said he understood "the torment it must have been for her to have all her private texts and WhatsApp messages revealed in open court".

"She said it was 'humiliating' but some of her explanations for the language she used and the feelings she expressed - such as they were down to her 'Frenchness' - were not credible or adequate," he said.

"However, I do think allowances need to be made for the heightened emotions that were clearly present when some of the messages were written and for the fact that these were assumed to be personal correspondence between friends that would never have been imagined to be seen by anyone else and certainly not analysed to the extent they were."

'Set upon by hounds'

Ms Green told the court she was unhappy with producers after budget cuts forced filming to move from Ireland and there had been "chaotic" preparations.

She also criticised what she described as corner-cutting - such as an "extremely dangerous" reduction in her stunt training - and the crew being paid "significantly" below industry rates.

It was revealed that in another text message, Ms Green had referred to crew members as "peasants... from Hampshire".

She explained to the court: "I have nothing against peasants. I didn't want to work with a sub-standard crew. I wanted to work with a high-quality crew who just wanted to be paid standard industry rates."

Mr Justice Green decided that, while Ms Green "may have said some extremely unpleasant things" about the producers and crew, "this was born from a genuine feeling of concern that any film... would be of very low quality".

The actress released a statement following the judgement, saying her "professional reputation has been upheld".

During the trial, the media coverage of her messages and actions "felt like being set upon by hounds", she said.

"I found myself misrepresented, quoted out of context and my desire to make the best possible film was made to look like female hysteria. It was cruel and it was untrue," she said.

"As a result of this case, the cat's well and truly out of the bag that I am mildly terrified of public speaking, that I don't understand technical financial structures, that I am fragile in the face of aggression, that I'm passionate about my work and that my heart breaks when people are unkind."

She added: "I fought tooth and nail to defend the beautiful film that I loved and had signed on for."

During the trial, White Lantern claimed Ms Green's "expectations for the film were incompatible with its budget", and that she was "repeatedly making unreasonable demands" about the crew, locations and equipment.