Remember the 2014 “Sin City” sequel? Probably not, because honestly, no one really saw it. The film, titled “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” stars Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, and Eva Green, just to name a few. But when the film was finally released, almost a decade after the first film, ‘Dame to Kill For’ only pulled in $39.4 million, falling far, far short of the $65 million budget. And according to a new lawsuit, the person responsible for all this is director Robert Rodriguez.
According to a new lawsuit (via Deadline), Rodriguez, who co-directed the film with Frank Miller, is being sued for causing production delays that, in turn, caused an increase in the budget by a reported $20 million. The suit also claims there was a “pattern of misbehavior” that resulted in going over budget, as well as hurting its financial prospects.
The lawsuit says, “ When the dust settled, SC2 Productions ended up financing almost $15 million in cost overruns over the approved budget Rodriguez had agreed to, and was obligated to, work within when filming Sin City 2. SC2 Productions should not have to shoulder the costs of Rodriguez’s false representations, failure to perform and many egregious breaches of various contracts related to the film.”
The suit goes into incredible detail, but the basic gist is simple. In addition to the production delays, Rodriguez is also being accused of breach of contract, bad faith, and false representation. The latter claim comes from the fact that the director allegedly wasn’t able to secure an agreement with a special effects company that would have only cost the production less than $10 million.
For those wondering what Rodriguez has been working on since the 2014 film, he’s produced a couple TV projects, but his only directing gig is on the upcoming “Alita: Battle Angel.” And for those hoping the director is able to secure a much-needed hit with ‘Alita,’ you might be out of luck. Rodriguez’s upcoming film is being released the same day as WB’s “Aquaman” and Paramount’s ‘Transformers’ spin-off “Bumblebee.” Expect the box office to be a bloodbath.