Gerard Butler sues ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ producers for $ 10 million

Gerard Butler is suing the producers – including parent companies Nu Image and Millennium Films – of his 2013 film “Olympus Has Fallen”.

Butler, 51, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, claiming he owed him at least $ 10 million in backend compensation on the action film’s profits. According to Variety, the lawsuit alleges producers had undervalued domestic and foreign revenue by tens of millions of dollars. The Scottish actor claims in the lawsuit he also failed to report $ 8 million that went to his own studio executives.

The lawsuit then cited that there had been fraud, breach of contract, breach of implied good faith commitment, fair dealing and intentional interference with contractual relations and accounting with the film.

In “Olympus Has Fallen”, Butler played the role of Mike Banning, a Secret Service agent who must save the president when terrorists take control of the White House. The film spawned two sequels, “London Has Fallen” and “Angel Has Fallen”.

“The producers have earned tens of millions of dollars from Olympus, but refuse to pay Butler a dime of the profits promised to him in the parties’ agreement,” the complaint says. “The producers embarked on a scheme designed to grossly distort the finances of the film to Butler, so that Butler would believe that none of these payments were due.

“It seems that the producers operating mode is to hide the profits from Olympus in order to keep those profits for themselves, ”the lawsuit added.

Butler’s case comes right after another star suing the producers of his film. On Thursday, Scarlett Johansson made headlines when she decided to sue Disney for the streaming of her superhero movie, “Black Widow.” Johansson claimed his contract was broken when the media giant released the film on its Disney + streaming service at the same time it was hitting theaters. The decision to put “Black Widow” on the small screen cost the actress over $ 50 million, she said in the costume.

“There is no merit in this filing,” Disney said in a statement after the filing. “The lawsuit is particularly sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney has fully lived up to Ms. Johansson’s contract, and furthermore, the release of “Black Widow” on Disney + with Premier Access has dramatically improved its ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $ 20 million it received from Disney. this day.