The last time Nick Cassavetes directed a movie for New Line, the result was this summer’s sleeper weepie, My Sister’s Keeper, which pulled in a respectable $69 million worldwide. Based on that, you’d think that all would be well between the two parties.
Until, that is, today, when Cassavetes issued a lawsuit against New Line Cinema, alleging breach of contract and fraud.
Cassavetes’ lawsuit comes after he was fired from the drama Peaceable Kingdom, a Gorillas In The Mist-style biopic of Daphne Sheldrick, a campaigner who dedicates her lives to rescuing baby elephants from the ravages of war, poaching and smuggling.
Cassavetes came on board the movie in March, but was recently fired. The lawsuit alleges that he did not receive payment he was due for undertaking a rewrite of Jeff Stockwell’s script; and it also covers payment for other projects that he claimed he turned down during the same period, so he could focus on Peaceable Kingdom.
When contacted by Variety, Warner Bros., New Line’s parent company, had no comment to make on the suit.