When Hollywood last tackled the work of adventure writer Clive Cussler, it wound up with the 1980 flop "Raise the Titanic." Said producer Lord Lew Grade of the experience: "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic."
Now, producers hope Cussler and his Web-savvy fans don't sink his "Sahara."
Since January, financier Philip Anschutz and his Crusader Entertainment have been in a legal brawl with the author over a big-budget film version of "Sahara," now shooting in Morocco.
The book is one of 18 that recount the heroics of Dirk Pitt, a wisecracking swashbuckler who fights for good and the environment under the auspices of the mythical National Underwater and Marine Agency, or NUMA. The picture, which stars Matthew McConaughey, is set for distribution by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures and is the first major feature directed by Breck Eisner, the son of Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael Eisner.
In a lawsuit filed last month, Cussler asked a state court in Los Angeles to block the film, saying Crusader and Anschutz violated his contractual rights by proceeding before he had approved a script.
The case, recently moved to a federal court in Los Angeles, is far from trial. But it has roused Cussler's admirers.
They are using the Internet to mount a campaign that is serving to remind Hollywood of an uncomfortable truth: Fandom can be a dual-edged sword, even in the era of cult-driven films such as Warner Bros. Pictures' "Harry Potter" cycle and New Line Cinema Inc.'s "Lord of the Rings."
"What Cussler is doing has the risk of harming the film, and the audience for the film, for no reason," said attorney Alan Rader, who represents Anschutz and Crusader, a production boutique the financier co-founded in 2000.
Rader said that the 72-year-old author was deeply involved in the movie's development and that he was simply trying to win back the rights to two other books that are part of Crusader's deal now that "Sahara" is "going to be a big success."
Oddly enough, Cussler -- whose daughter Dayna is credited with a small role in the film as the Amelia Earhart clone Kitty Mannock -- appears intent on tiptoeing through the fight.
He declined to be interviewed for this story. His lawsuit, in which he is represented by veteran entertainment attorney Bertram Fields, never mentions "Sahara" by name, referring only to an offending "motion picture."
