Back in 2012, when listicles were all the rage, Evan Rachel Wood reportedly signed a deal and accepted $300,000 upfront to star in the romantic comedy, 10 Things I Hate About My Life. The story of this lazily-titled film revolved around a guy and girl who meet and fall in love after they both attempt to commit suicide, and then, we can only assume, it’s all hilariously heartwarming from there. Except something happened along the way – perhaps people kept asking her if she meant 10 Things I Hate About You – and Wood decided to back out, and now the producers of the suicidal rom-com are suing her for a ridiculous $30 million.
According to the complaint, 10 Things Film LLC “suffered significant and extensive damages and financial harm” by Wood backing out “for personal reasons,” and somehow that led them to ask for $30 million from the actress. Can you guess how Wood’s lawyers responded?
“The lawsuit is preposterous and simply a bullying tactic from financially troubled producers. The production shut down in February 2013 when the producers ran out of money. Even after that, Evan agreed to resume production in Nov. 2013 by which time the producers said they would have cleared up their issues. However, the producers still could not get their act together, nor did they pay Evan money that was owed. Repeated subsequent promises by the producers to resume production and pay Evan also turned out to be false. Enough is enough. The producers, not Evan, have breached contract.” (Via Deadline)
Now I’m no big city slicker lawyer with a piece of paper from DeVry on my wall, but I think that response deserves a hearty…
If this thing doesn’t get tossed out of court by a judge who almost vomits from laughter, I’m hoping that our own Buttockus Finch, Esq. will eventually break it down for those of us not fluent in lawyer. But until then, I’m assuming that Wood isn’t losing much sleep.