Amber Heard has been named in a $10 million lawsuit claiming she breached her contract and sabotaged the 2015 movie London Fields, in which she starred alongside Billy Bob Thornton and Jim Sturgess.
The film, which also featured a cameo appearance by Amber’s ex-husband Johnny Depp, was later dragged into their bitter divorce battle after it was rumoured that Johnny had thrown a jealous fit and accused Amber and Billy Bob of having an affair during filming.
That wasn’t the only complication surrounding the movie, however. During production, tensions rose between the producers, Chris Hanley and Jordan Gertner, and the director, Matthew Cullen, who clashed over the final cut of the film, with the producers eventually taking the film away from Cullen and completing their own edit.
Johnny is said to have become jealous over Amber’s relationship with her London Fields co-star Billy Bob Thornton during filming. Photo: Getty
The actors are believed to have sided with the director over the issue, with Amber, Billy Bob, Johnny and Jim rumoured to have written to the producers of their objections over the final cut.
London Fields went on to have a disastrous debut at the Toronto International Film Festival last year as Cullen sued the producers, accusing them of fraud.
The premiere screening was later cancelled after it became clear that Amber would not be attending, and the critics who did see the movie reviewed it poorly.
Two months later, the producers filed their own countersuit against Cullen, alleging he had breached his contract and went $4.5 million over his $8 million budget for the movie.
Amber is accused of failing to “render acting services in conformance with the shooting script” in the lawsuit. Photo: Getty
In their lawsuit, they also claim that Amber conspired with the director and other actors to undermine the movie, even going so far as to campaign for it to be pulled from the Toronto Festival.
The producers allege that Amber worked with Cullen to change the final edit of the movie, getting rid of some of the more raunchy scenes which featured nudity and sex.
“Heard understood the nature of the role … and the tenor of the screenplay, which was salacious, provocative, and contained nude scenes,” the lawsuit states.
The producers say Amber failed to “render acting services in conformance with the shooting script” and made “unauthorised, material changes” to the script in collaboration with her director.
London Fields has yet to find a distributor and is now stuck in development limbo while the legal battles continue.
