Ruling due on Eva Green legal row over abandoned sci-fi film

The 42-year-old actress sued the production company behind the project after thriller A Patriot was abandoned.

Eva Green previously gave evidence at a High Court trial in London earlier this year (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

Hollywood actress Eva Green is set to discover whether she has won a multimillion-pound High Court case over the collapse of a sci-fi film.

The Casino Royale star was due to play the lead role in dystopian thriller A Patriot, but the production collapsed in October 2019.

The 42-year-old sued the production company behind the project after the film was abandoned, claiming she is entitled to her million-dollar (£810,000) fee under the terms of their agreement.

White Lantern Film and lender SMC Speciality Finance brought a counterclaim against Ms Green, alleging she undermined the independent film’s production and renounced the contract.

Mr Justice Michael Green is due to give his written ruling on the case on Friday after overseeing a trial in London earlier this year.

Edmund Cullen KC, for Ms Green, previously told the court that the actress had been subjected to a “character assassination”, adding it was “based on some of the cheapest and nastiest sorts of stereotypes around”.

The court heard that the actress described potential crew members as “shitty peasants”, the production as a “B-shitty-movie” and executive producer Jake Seal as “pure vomit”.

During two days of cross examination, Ms Green told the judge that she had a “very direct way of saying things”.

The French actress also said she was not called to the studio for rehearsals or stunt training, describing it as “so strange” and later “absurd with a capital A”.

She said: “If I had been called to set, I would have done this film even though it would have been a disaster.”

Ms Green later denied undermining the production, telling the court: “I didn’t have to do anything to make the film fail… they made it fail on their own with their incompetence.”

Max Mallin KC, representing White Lantern, said Ms Green had shown a “categorical and unequivocal refusal to perform”.

The production company also claimed that she made “excessive creative and financial demands” and had expectations that were “incompatible” with the film’s low budget.

Mr Mallin said it was not up to Ms Green whether or not she was called to set, adding: “What is within her control is whether she responds to that call or not and, in my submission, she is making quite clear that she was not.”

He added that she “was so concerned about what would happen if she were expressly called upon to perform” that she had suggested her agent “invent a story about Ms Green being hospitalised”.

Mr Justice Michael Green is expected to issue his ruling at 10am on Friday.