AP News, July 25th, 2007
The legal adventures of Clive Cussler took a new twist Tuesday when attorneys for the writer and the producers of the 2005 film "Sahara" each argued their clients were the real winners in a breach-of-contract case decided last May.
Jurors ruled May 15 that Cussler, regarded as "the grand master" of the action-adventure novel, breached his contract with Crusader Entertainment and owed the company $5 million. The company turned Cuttler's book "Sahara" into a 2005 film starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz.
At the same time, jurors said Superior Court Judge John P. Shook should determine whether Crusader owed Cussler $8.5 million for a second book the company once held the rights to.
During a hearing Tuesday, Shook said the decision is significant because it will determine who actually was the "prevailing party." That in turn will determine which side must pay attorney fees. The judge promised a ruling in about 10 days.
Crusader attorney Marvin Putnam argued that under the terms of its deal with Cussler, Crusader surrendered its rights to make a second movie by not beginning principal photography on the agreed-upon date of April 8, 2007.
As a result, he said, the company, owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, owes nothing to Cussler.
"They tried claiming during the trial they were entitled to $8.5 million, and they lost," Putnam said.
But Cussler attorney Bert Fields countered that by leaving that issue for Shook to decide, the jury had ruled in his client's favor on that point.
"Had Mr. Cussler created a material breach? Had he created a fraud that would not allow him to get the $8.5 million? That's not what the jury found," Fields said.
"Sahara," a box-office flop, lost more than $80 million, according to Crusader's attorneys.
During the civil trial, which lasted nearly four months, Crusader attorneys said Cussler, 76, was hard to get along with and badmouthed the film before it was released.
Cussler testified that he went into the project believing he had complete control over the script and said his film criticism didn't hurt ticket sales.
