There are some Hollywood trials that drag on for years, with both sides stung for costly legal bills as they argue the merits of the issue. And then there’s Adrien Brody’s case against the producersof Dario Argento’s much-derided horror film Giallo, which has just been decided in Brody’s favour a little over a month since he filed the lawsuit.
The Predators actor’s beef hinged on the claim that the producers locked him into a deal for his work, and then, when the appropriate sum failed to materialise in an escrow account, he threatened to pull out. Cue the filmmakers convincing him that, thanks to new deals struck for Italian distribution, there was plenty of cash in hand to settle his wages if he’d only agree to defer the $640,000 he was owed until the release. He agreed, but was dismayed to find no money was forthcoming when the pic arrived, quickly flopped in Europe and never made it to America until a recent DVD cropped up.
Fortunately, part of the agreement he’d made allowed him to withhold the right to use his image, which now means that, thanks to the success of the lawsuit, the producers will likely have to yank the discs off shelves across the pond and change the covers, which currently features not one, but two images of him (aside from the director’s name, it’s probably the only selling point they had).
Sounds like someone will be giving thanks for the legal system this week…