The producers of "London Fields" filed a suit against the film's star, Amber Heard. According to the complainants, the actress sabotaged the film and cost them over $10 million.
Variety reported that the fate of "London Fields" is still in limbo over a year after it launched at the Toronto International Film Festival. Director Mathew Cullen sued producers Chris Hanley and Jordan Gerner during the opening of the festival for fraud.
The premiere screening of the movie was cancelled, and the critics who were able to watch Amber Heard gave negative reviews. Subsequently, the producers counter-sued Cullen for breach of contract, after the director allegedly spent $12.5 million, well over the $8 million budget.
The problem in Toronto caused almost all of the potential distributors of the film to stop communicating with the producers. In the new lawsuit, the producers claimed that Amber Heard was also involved with Cullen in trying to sabotage "London Fields," and even campaigning to have it cancelled in Toronto.
According to the suit, Amber Heard had issues with her nude scenes and objected to versions of the movie that included some nudity and simulated sex, despite previously having agreed to such in her contract. Amber Heard's lawyer declined to comment.
Telegraph stated that the 24-page lawsuit stated that Amber Heard understood the nature of her role, as well as the tenor of the screenplay, which was described as provocative and salacious, and included nude scenes. Amber Heard was also said to have failed to perform dialogue replacement during post-production, which was supposedly part of the conspiracy to take down the film.
At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, Amber Heard was present to promote "The Danish Girl" and "Black Mass," but did not promote "London Fields." Her agent allegedly urged the festival to remove the film from the schedule.
"London Fields" is a murder mystery based on the novel by Martin Amis. Amber Heard plays a clairvoyant femme fatale who knows the date of her death, although her killer remains unidentified. Johnny Depp, Amber Heard's ex-husband, had a cameo appearance in the film. More updates and details on Amber Heard's pending lawsuit are expected soon.
