Gerard Butler has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the producers of his 2013 action movie Olympus Has Fallen over his profit participation from the film.
In papers filed today, the actor claimed that he is owed more than $10 million in profits from the film that producers “understated their own receipts and profits by over $11 million, including by failing to report approximately $8 million in payments to Producers’ own senior executives.”
The suit follows an audit of the production’s accounts requested by Butler and his legal team.
THe suit goes on to claim –
Producers have earned tens of millions of dollars from Olympus, but refuse to pay Butler a penny of the profits promised to him in the parties’ agreement… Producers embarked on a scheme designed to grossly misrepresent the finances of the Film to Butler, so that Butler would believe that no such payments were due.
Butler’s lawsuit comes a day after Marvel Cinematic Universe star Scarlett Johansson filed a suit against Disney over their simultaneous release of Black Widow in theaters and on their streaming service Disney+. That lawsuit has already reignited discussions about studios’ accounting tactics and how they can be manipulated to keep talent from getting compensation contractually due them. While each case will be tried on their own individual merits, Collectively, though, they may be the first cracks in an industry shift in how these contracts are paid out and enforced.
