Kevin Costner and a production company conditionally settled a lawsuit in which the actor alleged the firm used his name to sell a film at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2016 and later took him off the project without compensating him.
Lawyers for defendants Kylin Pictures International Inc. and Kylin Pictures Inc. filed court papers Monday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Kendig stating that the Oscar-winning actor’s case was resolved pending the completion of some remaining terms before the case can be dismissed. None of the terms were divulged in the two-page document.
The 62-year-old Costner, along with production company Treehouse Films LLC, sued Kylin Pictures last Oct. 25, alleging breach of contract.
According to the complaint, Treehouse and Beacon Films signed a deal in April 2016 to produce “Shanghai Sojourners,” the story of a Chinese woman who falls in love with a Jewish man during World War II and tries to help him escape the Nazis.
According to the lawsuit, Costner and producer Armyan Bernstein were set to receive a combined producing fee of $3 million. On top of that, Treehouse and Beacon were to receive a $1 million overhead fee and a share of profits, the complaint alleged.
During the Shanghai International Film Festival in the summer of 2016, Kylin promoted the film and highlighted the involvement of Costner and Treehouse, resulting in investments in the film. According to the suit, Kylin had already decided to fire Costner and Treehouse, but waited until August 2016 to tell them.
In addition to $3.85 million in damages, Treehouse and Costner, a 1978 Cal State Fullerton graduate, wanted the court to declare that they should receive the credits promised and the agreed-upon profit share if the picture is produced.
In April, Kendig dismissed the lawsuit’s fraud claim because Costner’s attorneys could not show Kylin had any duty to the plaintiffs to disclose an alleged intent by the company to later repudiate the agreement.
—City News Service