Author VS. Studio in court today over the train wreck losses of Sahara. We get the news and the numbers from the halls of
Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz have been accused of causing the $80 million budget for action film Sahara to double because of their vanity. The claims appear in legal documents released as part of a bitter court battle between Crusader Entertainment boss Philip Anschutz and Clive Cussler, author of Sahara.
The leaked document, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, shows $420,000 was spent on the movie’s leading actors, including $105,000 on bottled water and $54,000 on a “facial disease specialist.” Other expenses for the 2005 movie – which recorded losses of $105 million – included filming the $2 million crash of a vintage airplane in a 46-second sequence which never made it into the final cut.
When you lose money, going to court never seems like a good idea. In the long run, most of the time both parties simply stand to lose more money. Before you go to court – it should be mandatory to watch the money pit starring Tom Hanks.
What is of interest to me is the ridiculous costs that are give in list form. 105,00 on bottled water seems a little excessive – even for work in the Sahara. With most items you can swing a deal when you buy in bulk – I am wondering what kind of bottled water they were drinking; I am wondering if that bottled water was actually unicorn spit.
What the hell is a facial disease specialist, and why do you need one on set. If I get a disease – on my face, I would like to think I would be able to catch the warning signs all by myself and then drive to a hospital. I would hate to be in a place where face disease is such a serious and looming issue for me that I require a face doctor around me at all times. It is like bringing your own abortion doctor with you to sexual rendezvous.
The most retarded think on the list is the 2 Million dollar plane crash that didn’t make it into the final edit.
Call me old fashioned, but when you crash a plane for a film – put it in the movie. I don’t care if the scene even makes sense for the film, you just spent 2 million dollars! I am hard pressed to think of when a plane crash is ever a bad idea in a film – people love crashes (just watch AFV).
I guess you could draw a parallel from the plane crash to the film, both were expensive – and neither crash nor film were seen.
