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We have apparently seen the end of the Indiana Jones franchise, as Harrison Ford has stated that The Dial Of Destiny is the last time he’ll don the fedora and whip. Well, it will be the action and adventure franchise’s end unless Disney decides to squeeze every last drop they can out of it, which is never out of the question. Film fans always need something else to fill in their viewing void, so what are the best adventure movies like Indiana Jones for fans of the Indiana Jones series to check out?

U​ncharted (2022)

T​his is oddly a full-circle film when it comes to Indiana Jones. Uncharted is based on the video game of the same name, which was admittedly based on the Indiana Jones films. Nathan Drake (played by Tom Holland) teams up with a seasoned treasure hunter in Sully (Mark Wahlberg) to find a...

It’s always fun to discuss horror novels that Aren’T Stephen King. No knock on the monster from Maine, he’s the master of horror novels over the last, oh I don’t know, 50 years, for a reason but its nice to not have the show be solely dedicated to his adapted works. He says knowing that he makes the schedule and decides what books to cover. See you in May, Mr. King! Funnily enough, the man actually loved today’s subject to the degree that he called it one of 2006’s best horror novels, but more on that in a little bit. The Ruins (watch it Here) was one of those hot properties by an author whose previous work was an instant success with critics, fans, and studio executives that put it to celluloid. The book came out and just two years later we were given a movie...

As far as conspiracy theories go, very few have had as much of a life as the notion that NASA faked the Apollo moon landing. In some ways, one can understand why people felt this way, as it was one of the most critical events in human history, and the only witness was a TV camera. Back then, people distrusted anything they couldn’t see with their own eyes. In the seventies, conspiracy theories started to get famous, especially as far as the government went, with this the era of Watergate. People no longer trusted authority, and into this fraught environment came Capricorn One, a sci-fi-tinged conspiracy thriller that was one of the most popular films of 1977 but has since been largely forgotten – save for a small cult of devoted fans.

The film is directed by Best Movie You Never Saw favorite Peter Hyams, who also made Outland, 2010, Running Scared,...

Bertram “Bert” Fields, the larger-than-life entertainment lawyer whose roster of star clients and studios spoke to a penchant for doling out legal threats with a rhetorical flourish, along with a capacity for winning lucrative settlements, has died at his Malibu home, his rep confirmed to Variety. He was 93.

Fields thrived on the notion that he never lost a trial, and even if the Perry Mason-like reputation wasn’t exactly true, he was a relentless litigator who defined some of the industry’s most heralded cases of the 1980s and ’90s, with clients that included Warren Beatty, Tom Cruise, the Beatles, Edward G. Robinson, Michael Jackson, Rupert Murdoch and, at one time or another, just about all of the major studios.

Cruise said in a statement, “Bert Fields was a gentleman; an extraordinary human being. He had a powerful intellect, a keen wit, and charm that made one enjoy every minute of his company.

Bert Fields, the relentlessly loyal powerhouse entertainment lawyer who repped clients including Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Tom Cruise, George Lucas, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and many others in myriad headline-making cases in Hollywood, has died. He was 93.

His rep told Deadline that Fields died Sunday at his home in Malibu with his longtime wife Barbara Guggenheim by his side.

A partner at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger Llp, Fields tried many of the landmark cases in the entertainment and communications industries during the past several decades. He represented most major Hollywood studios and talent agencies during his singular career and such other bold-faced names as Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Geffen, James Cameron, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Mike Nichols, Jerry Bruckheimer, Joel Silver, Madonna and writers Mario Puzo, James Clavell, Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler.

Bert Fields Q&a: Disney Ban, George Lucas, James Cameron, Harvey Weinstein, Napoleon & The Next Big Thing

Harvey Weinstein,...

Click here to read the full article.

Bert Fields, the renowned entertainment litigator whose clients included Edward G. Robinson, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Tom Cruise, Warren Beatty, The Beatles and a host of other luminaries, studios and talent agencies, has died. He was 93.

Fields died peacefully late Sunday night at his Malibu home, a spokesperson for his law firm, Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger Llp., announced.

“For forty years, we were graced with Bert’s brilliance, decency and charm,” said Bob Baradaran, managing partner of Greenberg Glusker. “Bert was a beloved colleague, friend and mentor who trained a generation of outstanding lawyers. We were blessed to know and work with such a truly remarkable lawyer and human being.”

A longtime partner at Greenberg Glusker and mainstay on THR‘s annual Power Lawyer list, Fields during his six-decade career also represented the likes of David Geffen, James Cameron, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson, Mike Nichols,...

In 1976 Clive Cussler published Raise the Titanic!, a novel in which a team of undersea adventurers attempted to bring the famous shipwreck to the surface and recover its treasures. But Cussler’s hero Dirk Pitt was late to this game: For the previous six or seven years, the CIA had been secretly attempting something similar in the real world, with a much more dangerous treasure in mind.

Adapting a nonfiction book written by that project’s director, Philip Carter’s Neither Confirm Nor Deny chronicles the massive amount of work (and money) the CIA put into an effort to retrieve a ...

In 1976 Clive Cussler published Raise the Titanic!, a novel in which a team of undersea adventurers attempted to bring the famous shipwreck to the surface and recover its treasures. But Cussler’s hero Dirk Pitt was late to this game: For the previous six or seven years, the CIA had been secretly attempting something similar in the real world, with a much more dangerous treasure in mind.

Adapting a nonfiction book written by that project’s director, Philip Carter’s Neither Confirm Nor Deny chronicles the massive amount of work (and money) the CIA put into an effort to retrieve a ...

Clive Cussler, the bestselling author whose novels Raise the Titanic! and, much to his greater disappointment, Sahara, were made into movies, died Monday at his home in Scottsdale, Az. He was 88.

His death was announced by his wife, Janet Horvath, on the author’s official Twitter page. No cause of death was given.

“It is with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that my husband Clive passed away Mon.,” Horvath wrote. “It has been a privilege to share in his life. I want to thank you his fans & friends for all the support. He was the kindest most gentle man I ever met.I know, his adventures will continue.”

Although he wrote more than 80 books — with a specialty in action, adventure and undersea stories — Cussler is best known in Hollywood for the two novels that didn’t make particularly good movies. The 2005 film Sahara starring Matthew McConaughey...

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The thriller Raise The Titanic was a $40m flop in 1980, its model Titanic alone costing millions. Ryan charts the replica's sad history...

By autumn 1977, author Clive Cussler was the toast of the publishing world. Following a decade of writing and two moderately successful novels, his third book, Raise The Titanic! was a runaway bestseller. Its popularity was a contrast to Cussler's earlier books, which had earned him a relatively meagre $5,000. But those earlier adventures - The Mediterranean Caper and Iceberg - helped establish the daring hero Dirk Pitt, a practical, earthy hero designed as a counterpoint to the suave, refined James Bond.

For Raise The Titanic!, Cussler dreamed up a scenario in which Pitt headed up a multi-billion-dollar operation to find and recover the doomed luxury liner, which sank in 1912. Their goal: to recover a mysterious, incredibly rare substance called byzantium from the ship's belly - a...

When Johnny Depp‘s mustache comedy “Mortdecai” brought in less than $5 million on opening weekend, it marked the A-list actor’s fifth straight box office bomb. But he’s far from the only top billed actor to endure a tanker or two.

The 51-year-old film star and his co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor and Olivia Munn are in fact in very good company.

Also Read: 19 Biggest Box-Office Bombs and Bummers in 2014: From ‘The Giver’ to ‘Winter’s Tale’ (Photos)

From Brad Pitt (“Fight Club”) to Cameron Diaz (“The Box”) to Jamie Foxx (“Stealth”), nearly every high-profile actor has suffered...

Michael B. Jordan, Zac Efron and Miles Teller at last night’s People’s Choice Awards

(all photos: Getty)

The People’s Choice Awards is probably my favorite ceremony where the winners are all in the front row and the losers enigmatically don’t show up. I think this is how the Saturn Awards, Gotham Awards, and Nobel Prizes work too.

For a telecast devoted mostly to pimping CBS programming (including Best Comedic TV Actress Kaley Cuoco![?]), it was harmless enough. The hosting duo of Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs from 2 Broke Girls was un-infuriating, and they didn’t get in the way of the show’s surprising amount of gayness. Here are the gay highlights.

Sean Hayes claimed Sandra Bullock as his wife.

While teasing open the envelope and presenting the “Best Movie Actress” award to that deadpan charmer Sandra Bullock, Sean Hayes charmingly deadpanned, “Oh, thank God, this...

Some box-office analysts are in the midst of figuring out what went wrong with The Fifth Estate. There's probably far fewer people who are still thinking about the disappointment of John Carter. Then there's Sahara, the 2005 film starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz. It's been eight years since the $130 million film made back about half of that in domestic gross, but that doesn't mean the autopsy is quite over with. After the film came out, there was an epic amount of litigation between novelist Clive Cussler and Philip Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment. There was a 14-week trial

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After screening at Sitges, Screamfest La and a bunch of Australian festivals -- and helping director Justin Dix get the attention of Fox for his next film -- sci-fi thriller Crawlspace will finally have its hometown premiere at the glorious Astor Theatre on Sunday 7 July.Executive produced by Greg McLean, and with special effects by Dix's own FX company Wicked of Oz, Crawlspace stars the awesomely-named Ditch Davey (who really should play Dirk Pitt if they ever make another movie based on Clive Cussler's novels), Amber Clayton, Nicholas Bell, Peta Sergeant, Eddie Baroo, Samuel Johnson and Fletcher Humphrys.In Crawlspace a group of elite soldiers infiltrate a top-secret underground military compound and find the facility is a testing ground for something sinister. In this space everyone...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

You know what really stinks? When an average movie – or even a dreadful one – gets great box office returns and spawns a sequel. You know what’s even worse? When that sequel gets great box office returns, and spawns another sequel. Before you know it, it’s become a full-fledged franchise, with film after film after film.

But you know what’s even worse than those above options? When there’s a really great movie that gets almost completely ignored, either in the form of bad critical reviews or low box office. Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense… some of the best movies ever made get shafted, and mentioning them to your friends results in nothing but blank stares.

Of course, there’s also some that were flawed, but could have fixed those flaws with sequels. Well, it’s time to fix that. It’s time for us to...

The seemingly never-ending legal battle between novelist Clive Cussler and Philip Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment over the 2005 box office bomb Sahara has had many chapters without any dénouement. In late December, a California appeals court attempted to write one. At issue is who actually won the legal case. At stake was some $20 million in attorney fees. Even before Sahara was released in 2005 to financial losses estimated at $80 million, the two sides were fighting.

In 2004, Cussler filed a lawsuit claiming more than $100 million in damages from

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There are many reasons to be fired up about Fantastic Fest this year, and my biggest reason is the awesome selection of Australian (and New Zealand) genre films playing the festival - after yet another year of these countries churning out some absolute classics. I'll be 9000 miles away in Melbourne during the festival, too far even for a Clive Cussler-type nautical tractor to drive there across the ocean floor, but the next best thing I can do is give you some insight into these gems as you organize your schedules. Aussie featuresHAIL (2012)Regional PremiereDirector - Amiel Courtin-Wilson, 104 minsReal life ex-con Daniel P. Jones stars in this haunting and unflinchingly realistic film crafted from over 500 pages of his own memories and experiences.Amiel Courtin-Wilson is one...

To have one giant money-losing tentpole is unfortunate. To have two starts to look careless, and that's what's happened to Taylor Kitsch. The actor, who broke out on TV's "Friday Night Lights," was seen as Hollywood's next great hope, picked out to star in two great big blockbusters with a combined cost of half-a-billion dollars. But when "John Carter" arrived in March, the film wildly underperformed, with Disney taking a hit of at least $100 million on the project. And after this weekend, it looks that his other film, "Battleship," is going to lose similar amounts.

The film, Universal & Hasbro's adaptation of the board game, directed by "Hancock" helmer Peter Berg, had taken the unusual step of opening everywhere else in the world six weeks ahead of the U.S, in the hope of bagging lucrative foreign coin and building buzz for the U.S. release. But while the film did ok abroad,...

With James Cameron’s Titanic sailing back into cinemas towing an extra dimension author David Kowalski gives his thought on the hold Titanic has in popular culture, with particular reference to the depictions of the disaster in movies and in fiction.

You can visit David’s website here for details on his work and inspirations and there’s a link to find out more about his book at the end of this post.

The earliest recollection I have of the Titanic in fiction was Clive Cussler’s Raise the Titanic.

The title alone was enough to excite me. It’s one of the early Dirk Pitt novels and a lot of fun. I remember seeing the film, and dated as it seems by today’s standards, there is something stirring about seeing the ship rising from the depths.

A Night to Remember is probably my favorite retelling of the story.

Let’s face it. We can’t hide it. We all have those movies that we like that others would shun. These are guilty pleasures: the ones that aren’t that great but we love for some reason or another. Here are mine. Be sure to list yours in the comments, if you’d like.

Last Action Hero (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes: 38%

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austin O’Brien, F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney, Charles Dance

Director: John McTiernan/Writers: Shane Black and David Arnott

Here’s the thing: I will defend this movie’s concept till Doomsday. A movie about a kid with a magic ticket that gets pulled into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? Genius concept. Yes, the kid is annoying. Yes, the movie doesn’t reach the heights of a McTiernan/Black team-up as well as one might think. It’s interesting to note that McTiernan isn’t working as much...

Over the summer, Dynamite Entertainment asked me to rush edit a novel and sure enough, in under a week, I read, line edited, and completed my work on Seal Team 6, a prose novel by my pal Chuck Dixon. It was initially made available as an eBook, a first for Dynamite; and today, can be ordered as a print book in the new Diamond Previews catalog. If you like men’s adventure and military action, then this book is for you.

Here’s the solicitation copy:

Seal Team Six: A Novel

160 page prose novel (6”x9”) • $9.99 • Teen +

Written by Chuck Dixon

New York Times bestselling author, Chuck Dixon’s first ever novel from Dynamite

Entertainment! In the tradition of G.I. Joe, Punisher, Tom Clancy, Brad Thor, Clive Cussler, Vince Flynn, W.E. Griffin, and Dale Brown: Seal Team Six: The Novel!

They are highly trained. Their missions are classified. They...

Jon Land’s latest thriller/mystery featuring fifth generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong, Strong At the Break, is now out in the bookstores and at Amazon and is rapidly rising up the bestselling books ranks! It’s a great novel that can be enjoyed as a standalone, though the whole series is excellent, so if you love thrillers, you should check them all out. Jon Land graciously agreed to let me interview him, and I didn’t even have to threaten him or coerce him with blackmail (no, I am Not crossing my fingers–I stand by this comment), and what follows is the result. Get to know the Man, the Myth, the Legend, the best-selling author Jon Land and his inspirations, hopes, dreams, and more about his novels by simply giving in to my hypnotic powers of suggestion and Reading On!!!

Professor Crazy: So, Jon–long time, no see…...

2005’s Sahara was an epic flop, but it's not, Ti argues, a film without merit. Here's our look back at the action franchise that could have been...

Recently, I wrote an article about how Hollywood was constantly looking for the next Indiana Jones franchise, and that they may have found it in the recently green-lit Uncharted film. However, I also wrote that they had attempted it in the Dirk Pitt franchise, notably with the 2005 flop Sahara, which I had enjoyed.

One comment on the article noted that for liking this film, I was a “moronic malcontent”, so I thought I'd explain why I thought this film was not just underrated, but a decent franchise starter that should have been allowed to continue.

Now, I grew up on action adventure films like Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Romancing The Stone and The Mummy, and love high-octane action, exotic locales, and heroes...

Nathan Fillion has officially thrown his hat in the ring to play the hero in the forthcoming videogame adaptation, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. But he’s not the only actor interested…

David O. Russell has a big job on his hands. Not only does he have to do a decent videogame to movie adaptation which, arguably, no one has yet been able to do (Prince Of Persia wasn't that good), he has to deliver a new hero of the 21st century.

Now, let's be honest, for the past couple of decades, movie studios have been trying to find the 'new Indiana Jones'. Tomb Raider tried and failed, The Mummy gave us Brendan Fraser's Rick O'Connell and then ruined it with the awful sequels, and Matthew McConaughey tried to bring Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt to the big screen with Sahara, but ended up delivering one of the year's biggest flops (still,...

Breck Eisner bounced back nicely from Sahara with this year's The Crazies. It didn't make a bunch of money, but it was a pretty good genre movie. And Sahara, of course, is one of the bigger flops of the past decade, a movie that not only didn't start a franchise for Matthew McConaughey, but was also linked to all sorts of improprieties, up to and including lawsuits between the producers and novelist Clive Cussler and bribing local governments where the film was shooting on location.

So, even though The Crazies was only a modest success, Eisner's probably happy not to be subpoenaed. He was linked to two other remakes in the near future, The Creature From the Black Lagoon and Flash Gordon, but now only Flash Gordon remains for him. And honestly, you don't want to be a guy who just directs remakes.

So now it appears he'll do a comic book adaptation,...

Breck Eisner has become the latest director attached to the long-planned – yet long-panned – remake of John Carpenter’s futuristic cult classic, Escape from New York.

EW reports that, fresh from helming a mildly successful 2010 adaptation of the George A. Romero horror The Crazies, Eisner is in negotiations with New Line Cinema to breathe new life into legendary tough guy, Snake Plissken.

Eisner, who was also responsible for the big screen version of the Clive Cussler novel Sahara starring Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn and Penelope Cruz, follows Len Wiseman, Brett Ratner and Jonathan Mostow as the men most likely to direct the Escape from New York remake.

Wiseman (Underworld, Live Free or Die Hard) was expected to take the reins back in early 2007, when Gerard Butler was in…

Continue reading Crazies Director Could Helm Escape from New York Remake...

Author Clive Cussler's legal battle with the producers of the movie adaptation of his book Sahara is set to start up again after a California appeals court overturned a $5 million (£3.1 million) judgment against the writer.

Cussler was ordered to pay $5 million to Crusader Entertainment bosses after losing a contract dispute with the movie executives over the flop 2005 film, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz.

Cussler initially sued Crusader chiefs in 2004, claiming they did not honour his contract to have approval over the film's screenplay.

The movie bosses countersued, alleging the author refused to help promote the film as he had promised.

By the Associated Press

 An appeals court has overturned a $5 million judgment against author Clive Cussler in a long-running lawsuit over the film "Sahara" -- but it's still not clear for whom the ruling is a "win."

The California Second District Court of Appeal's Wednesday ruling could restart a long-running feud between Crusader Entertainment (now Bristol Bay) and Cussler, who was ordered to pay $5 million over the contract for the film adaptation of "Sahara."

A Superior Court judge still has to rule on who actually won the case, however. Cussler's...

There's no escaping the remake epidemic, but is one of its most eager proponents a remake himself? John Patterson tracks the Eisner dynasty

Poor old George Romero. He's entering his sunset years now, and every other summer, it seems, somebody takes one of his children away and shoots it. Or rather, reshoots it, which is almost worse. First, it was all those comedy-style remakes of Night Of The Living Dead in the 1980s, then it was Dawn Of The Dead, decently remade, but shorn of its anti-consumerist satire, and now it's The Crazies, his so-so apocalyptic germ-warfare thriller from 1973.

It's happening everywhere these days, and particularly in the career of the man directing this new version of The Crazies. Breck Eisner's next two movies will also be remakes. First up is Flash Gordon, which was remade niftily enough three decades ago by Mike Hodges. I'm willing to concede that...

Oh, to be Breck Eisner. You recognize the last name, surely; he's the son of former Disney boss Michael Eisner, and I'm not saying that has anything at all to do with him landing in the director's chair, but his studio debut had a budget of $130 million. Sahara didn't make money and on top of that, was embroiled in a four-year legal match with writer Clive Cussler.

Most directors would probably aim for smaller projects on the heels of losing a studio money, but Eisner is hard at work putting together huge remakes of Flash Gordon and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. He's also finishing up The Crazies, another remake, which is due out in September. Incidentally, three remakes in a row should be the limit for any director.

Eisner had updates on both Flash and Black Lagoon, telling Arrow in the Head, "I love them both, they're both big movies.

Remember Sahara, the one-off attempt to give Matthew McConaughey his own action franchise? It was a big time flop, and now author Clive Cussler, who already lost one lawsuit against producers Crusade Entertainment, is forking over even more money for a movie he's credited with trying to sabotage.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Shook on Monday ruled that Cussler owes another $14 million in legal fees, which the author's attorney, Bert Fields, says the verdict will be challenged, meaning a four-year legal battle will drag on even longer.

"The jury [in the previous case] decided in favor of Clive Cussler on most of the issues," Fields said. "The judge took that away from Cussler. We're absolutely 100% confident that it will be overturned."...

The long-running legal drama over the 2005 superflop "Sahara" has taken a surprising turn, with a Los Angeles judge ruling that author Clive Cussler must pay Philip Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment nearly $14 million in legal fees.

In a decision issued after a spirited four-hour hearing Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Shook found that Cussler's contracts with Crusader to adapt his "Sahara" novel into a film required the losing party in litigation to pay the winner's attorneys fees. Shook ruled that Cussler was the loser based on a 2007 jury finding that Cussler owed Crusader $5 million in damages.

"The issue boils down to whether the fees requested are reasonable and necessary," Shook said.

The $13.9 million award is extremely high and reflects the cost of a prolonged and contentious legal battle between well-funded Hollywood adversaries.

"This entire ordeal has been very long, very trying and very expensive," said David Weil, CEO of Anschutz Film Group,...

A Los Angeles judge has rejected "Sahara" author Clive Cussler's claims that Crusader Entertainment owes him at least $8.5 million in damages for second-picture rights to another Dirk Pitt novel.

Cussler and Crusader went to trial last year in a long-running feud where both sides claimed breach of contract in the making of films based on the author's popular character.

In May, a jury ordered Cussler to pay Crusader $5 million in damages for making false representations about international sales of his Dirk Pitt book series and knowing that those representations were false.

Among the questions answered by the jury was that Crusader was obligated to pay for a second book deal if there was a second movie, which never happened. Based on that finding, Cussler's attorney, Bert Fields, said his client was owed $8.5 million for the second book, which minus the jury's verdict totaled $3.5 million in damages payable to Cussler.

But in a one-page order issued Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Shook wrote that the question answered by the jury regarding the second book deal was "advisory in nature."

"(Cussler) cannot now contend that the jury's response to Question 60 is tantamount to a judgment for $8,517,429," the court order states.

Author Clive Cussler failed to deal fairly with Phillip Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment over the production of Sahara, a Los Angeles jury ruled Tuesday in ordering Cussler to pay $5 million in damages.

But the verdict was mixed, with jurors finding that Crusader was obligated to pay Cussler what could end up being $8.5 million for second-picture rights to another Dirk Pitt novel he sold to Anschutz's company. A later determination of the value of those rights could erase Anschutz's win.

After eight days of deliberations in the highly publicized trial, the jury unanimously awarded Crusader $2.5 million for past economic damages and $2.5 million for future economic damages. The jury found that Crusader honored its deal with Cussler but that Cussler "unfairly" interfered with the contract and harmed the film's boxoffice performance.

Outside the courtroom, lawyers for both sides spun the verdict in their clients' favor.

"This is a huge victory for Crusader," Crusader counsel Marvin Putnam of O'Melveny & Myers said of the verdict.

Factoring in the $5 million jury award to Crusader, Cussler's lead attorney Bert Fields said his client would walk away with about $3.5 million.

It was a "no harm, no foul" verdict, Fields said.

Author Clive Cussler has been ordered to pay $5 million to the production company responsible for the movie adaptation of his book Sahara. The novelist mounted a legal case in 2004 against production company Crusader Entertainment, claiming the company had breached its contract, which stated Cussler was allowed "absolute approval" over the film's script up until filming began. However, Crusader later countersued Cussler, accusing him of "duping" them into adapting his book, and ambushing the movie by publicly criticizing the project on its 2005 release. A Los Angeles jury yesterday found Cussler had breached an "implied covenant" of good faith, and falsified his book sales in any dealings with Crusader - but recommended Crusader pay Cussler $8 million he alleged he was owed for a second novel which never made it to the big screen. Sahara, the Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz-starring movie made $68 million at the box office, and it was claimed in court the film's losses were in excess of $80 million. During the 14-week long case, lawyers for Crusader argued the company would not have paid the author $10 million to adapt his novel into a movie if it had been aware Cussler had sold only 40 million books, as he had initially told executives his sales figures were closer to 100 million. Speaking after the decision, Cussler said, "I'm relieved that it's over, and now we can go home." Although Cussler was found to be in breach of his contract with Crusader, Bert Fields, Cussler's attorney, says, "I think that Cussler is the winner. If the judge upholds what the jury has done, he gets a net gain of $3 million." However, Marvin Putnam, Crusader's attorney, says, "It's a massive vindication not only for Crusader and all the people who made the film, but also for the industry at large." The final amount of compensation will be decided by Superior Court Judge John P. Shook later this year.

Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz have been accused of causing the $80 million budget for action film Sahara to double because of their vanity. The claims appear in legal documents released as part of a bitter court battle between Crusader Entertainment boss Philip Anschutz and Clive Cussler, author of Sahara. Cussler is currently suing Crusader, claiming it reneged on an agreement to give him creative control of the movie adaptation. The leaked document, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, shows $420,000 was spent on the movie's leading actors, including $105,000 on bottled water and $54,000 on a "facial disease specialist." Other expenses for the 2005 movie - which recorded losses of $105 million - included filming the $2 million crash of a vintage airplane in a 46-second sequence which never made it into the final cut.

Visitors to the drab downtown Los Angeles courtroom of Judge John Shook this week will be forgiven for becoming a tad starstruck. Sure, the case of Cussler v. Crusader Entertainment pits a well-known author, Clive Cussler, against billionaire Sahara producer Philip Anschutz with $100 million in damages potentially at stake.

But in a trial whose witness list includes actor Matthew McConaughey and former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing, the biggest name in the room might still be the plaintiff's 77-year old attorney. Bert Fields is the Clint Eastwood of entertainment lawyers, a multihyphenate, seen-it-all figure who is seemingly becoming more productive after a half-century of practicing law.

The rules of the profession don't seem to apply to Fields. Nearly all entertainment lawyers choose to specialize in dealmaking or litigation; Fields does both. Most litigators avoid conflicts of interest by representing either talent or studios; Fields straddles both worlds, having represented A-listers like Tom Cruise and nearly every major studio except the Walt Disney Co., which he famously coaxed into a $250 million settlement with its former studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg. It's no secret among attorneys that most name-partner rainmakers delegate the bulk of their work, but Fields' partners at the Greenberg Glusker firm in Century City insist he's still first in the office each morning, personally drafting most documents with his name on them.

Visitors to the drab downtown Los Angeles courtroom of Judge John Shook this week will be forgiven for becoming a tad starstruck. Sure, the case of Cussler v. Crusader Entertainment pits a well-known author, Clive Cussler, against billionaire "Sahara" producer Philip Anschutz with $100 million in damages potentially at stake.

But in a trial whose witness list includes actor Matthew McConaughey and former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing, the biggest name in the room might still be the plaintiff's 77-year old attorney. Bert Fields is the Clint Eastwood of entertainment lawyers, a multihyphenate, seen-it-all figure who is seemingly becoming more productive after a half-century of practicing law.

The rules of the profession don't seem to apply to Fields. Nearly all entertainment lawyers choose to specialize in dealmaking or litigation; Fields does both. Most litigators avoid conflicts of interest by representing either talent or studios; Fields straddles both worlds, having represented A-listers like Tom Cruise and nearly every major studio except the Walt Disney Co., which he famously coaxed into a $250 million settlement with its former studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg. It's no secret among attorneys that most name-partner rainmakers delegate the bulk of their work, but Fields' partners at the Greenberg Glusker firm in Century City insist he's still first in the office each morning, personally drafting most documents with his name on them.

Clive Cussler, the author of adventure novel Sahara and film producer Philip Anschutz are embroiled in a bitter court battle regarding the book's movie adaptation. Cussler is suing the film's makers for breach of contract, while producer Anschutz is counter suing Cussler for alleged blackmail and sabotage attempts against the film prior to its 2005 release. The movie, which starred Penelope Cruz and Matthew McConaughey, recorded losses of $105 million. Cussler believes his initial brief of "absolute control" over his book's big screen adaptation was compromised, which led to it becoming a box office flop. In a statement to a Los Angeles court, Cussler says, "They deceived me right from the beginning. They kept lying to me... and I just got fed up with it." However, Alan Rader, Anschutz's lawyer, believes Cussler's behavior was unacceptable and played a big part in the film's poor takings. He says, "It is the height of arrogance for Cussler to take $10 million to make a movie and then torpedo the franchise."...

One could make the case that any movie starring Penelope Cruz or William H. Macy can't be all bad. And "Sahara", which stars both Penelope Cruz and William H. Macy, proves the point: It isn't all bad.

What it is is a big summer action movie that would have been hot stuff about 30 years ago but looks tired and worn today despite a perky, attractive cast that refuses to wilt in the desert sun. Star Matthew McConaughey can draw female audiences just as Cruz draws males, so the film should do enough boxoffice so as not to cause the new Paramount regime any anguish. It might take video and DVD to put the film in the black.

Although shot in Morocco and Spain, the movie is set vaguely in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly Nigeria and Mali. "Sahara" is based on one of novelist Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures, whose intrepid hero is a deep-sea expert and treasure hunter with a nose for trouble and lovely women. In movie terms, Dirk is something of a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones.

Unfortunately, McConaughey is a little too light to step into the kind of role Harrison Ford or Kevin Costner would have played it a decade or so ago. And Steve Zahn is likable but forced as Al Giordino, Dirk's happy-go-lucky sidekick with a quick quip for any situation. The division of labor between these two is best summed up by Zahn's line: "I'll find the bomb! You get the girl!"

Cruz doesn't have much to do other than look ravishing while jumping from a camel onto a moving train or leaping out of a helicopter to escape the villain. And Macy gets sidelined with a character, nominally Dirk's boss, who hears about all the action over the telephone. Still it is fun to watch the two actors turn nonsense into watchable nonsense.

So what is a deep-sea expert doing in the Sahara? Actually he is searching for a Civil War Ironclad battleship that he and he alone believes somehow drifted from Virginia to Africa 140 years ago. Cruz's Dr. Rojas is a World Health Organization doctor determined to locate the cause of a baffling new plague in Mali. Her search has no real connection to Dirk and Al's quest, yet they keep running into one another in the vast wilderness so that Dirk can rescue her from certain death. (In fairness, she rescues him too.)

The trio's escapades come to the attention of evil French entrepreneur Massarde (Lambert Wilson) and Mali strongman General Kazim (Lennie James) who send the entire Mali army after them to cover up the source of the rapidly spreading illness. Four writers struggle to give the plot any sense of plausibility without much success. Leaps in logic and locations abound as our heroes wisecrack their way through fights without a scratch.

First-time feature director Breck Eisner -- he has directed a TV film -- does a respectable job in maintaining forward momentum and brisk byplay among the actors. The film's action set pieces, including a battle between boats on a river, breaking into a mysterious power plant in the middle of nowhere and various skirmishes between our heroes and the general's faceless soldiers, come off effectively.

There is nothing to them though we haven't seen before, and the use of old pop songs on the soundtrack contributes to a strong feeling of Deja Vu. The film's otherworldly locations and sets that neatly blend into the startling vistas spruce up the formulaic happenings. Production designer Allan Cameron has, after all, designed a Bond movie, and this is his fourth movie in Morocco. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey makes the most of the locations to give them a haunting beauty. No, it isn't all bad but it isn't very good either.

SAHARA

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures and Bristol Bay Prods. present in association with Baldwin Entertainment Group a j.k. livin production, a Kanzaman production

Credits:

Director: Breck Eisner

Screenwriters: Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John C. Richards, James V. Hart

Based on the novel by: Clive Cussler

Producers: Howard Baldwin, Karen Baldwin, Mace Neufeld, Stephanie Austin

Executive producers: Matthew McConaughey, Gus Gustawes, William J. Immerman, Vicki Dee Rock

Director of photography: Seamus McGarvey

Production designer: Allan Cameron

Music: Clint Mansell

Costumes: Anna Sheppard

Editor: Andrew MacRitchie

Cast:

Dirk Pitt: Matthew McConaughey

Al Giordino: Steve Zahn

Dr. Eva Rojas: Penelope Cruz

Massarde: Lambert Wilson

Dr. Hopper: Glynn Turman

Carl: Delroy Lindo

Admiral Sandecker: William H. Macy

Rudi: Rainn Wilson

MPAA rating: PG-13.

Running time: 123 minutes.

Two films with literary bloodlines opened in wide release this weekend, with each contributing respectable -- but not breakout -- performances at the boxoffice in what was a rather anemic session overall in North America. Paramount's Sahara, starring Matthew McConaughey and helmed by Breck Eisner, caught industry insiders off guard with a stronger than expected finish and the top spot. The action-adventure film from Bristol Bay, based on the novel by Clive Cussler, swept up $18.1 million on its debut. Dimension's highly stylized Sin City held up fairly strongly in its second weekend, grossing $14.2 million to place second -- down 51% from its opening. The sophomore session drop for Sin City was fairly moderate considering the genre, which usually sees bigger drops on the second weekend. The Robert Rodriguez-Frank Miller co-directed film, starring Bruce Willis, Clive Owen and Jessica Alba, has accumulated $50.8 million in 10 days.

Two films with literary bloodlines opened in wide release this weekend, with each contributing respectable -- but not breakout -- performances at the boxoffice in what was a rather anemic session overall in North America. Paramount's "Sahara", starring Matthew McConaughey and helmed by Breck Eisner, caught industry insiders off guard with a stronger than expected finish and the top spot. The action-adventure film from Bristol Bay, based on the novel by Clive Cussler, swept up $18.1 million on its debut. Dimension's highly stylized "Sin City" held up fairly strongly in its second weekend, grossing $14.2 million to place second -- down 51% from its opening. The sophomore session drop for "Sin City" was fairly moderate considering the genre, which usually sees bigger drops on the second weekend. The Robert Rodriguez-Frank Miller co-directed film, starring Bruce Willis, Clive Owen and Jessica Alba, has accumulated $50.8 million in 10 days.

As Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz's Sahara raced into cinemas Friday, the author whose book inspired the film hatched plans to sue bosses for as much as $90 million. Bestselling author Clive Cussler has been waging a very public war against film-makers for almost a year, accusing them of breaching agreements made on the project. His attorney Bert Fields says, "They promised Mr. Cussler approval of the script. He wanted to protect his book. They departed fundamentally from the screenplays that he approved." Fields filed a breach of contract suit on Cussler's behalf, prompting the film's producers to counter-sue claiming sabotage. Cussler and Fields flirted with the possibility of trying to legally block the film's release, but decided against it, opting to battle it out in court instead. Fields, who anticipates the case will go to trial in November, tells American TV show Celebrity Justice, "We intend to take the matter to trial and fully litigate it. I wanna get these people in front of a jury." But director Breck Eisner remains hopeful that Cussler will approve of the finished product, stating, "I think he's gonna love it, I really do. We stayed true to the spirit of the books. I really can't wait for him to see it." The monetary sum Cussler sues for will depend on the film's box office performance.

Matthew McConaughey is in final negotiations to star in and executive produce Crusader Entertainment's big-screen adaptation of Clive Cussler's 1992 novel Sahara for director Breck Eisner. The project will begin production in the fall, with Paramount Pictures distributing. Sahara is the first installment of the author's best-selling Dirk Pitt series, about an intrepid adventurer and explorer. The book centers on Pitt (McConaughey) searching the Sahara for a toxin that is killing marine life. McConaughey will executive produce the project with Gus Gustawes, his producing partner in their j.k. livin prods. There are 13 Pitt books in Cussler's series, and Crusader hopes that Sahara will be the beginning of a franchise with McConaughey at the center. The actor, repped by ICM and attorney Kevin Morris, most recently starred in Paramount Pictures' How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and is attached to star in and produce the studio's romantic comedy Dear Delilah (HR 4/9).