After a marathon battle of big egos and a long-winded 14-week civil trial, author Clive Cussler and billionaire industrialist Philip Anschutz both claimed victory Tuesday, but neither walked away with the huge financial win he'd sought.
A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that Cussler breached his contract with the producers of the 2005 adventure film "Sahara," awarding Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment $5 million.
But jurors also deemed that Crusader, now called Bristol Bay Productions, should pay Cussler about $8.5 million the author said he was owed for a second novel in his Dirk Pitt series that was never made into a movie.
"I'm greatly relieved it's over," Cussler, 75, said outside the courtroom Tuesday. "I think I'm happy just to go home and take up my life again. We've been here for four months."
The jury found that Cussler fraudulently misrepresented the number of books he'd sold, but that Crusader had not been harmed by it. Jurors awarded no damages on the fraud claim, nor did they levy punitive damages.
Anschutz was not present for the jury's findings, but his attorney, Marvin Putnam, said he was elated with the outcome -- despite a $5-million award that probably wouldn't cover either side's legal bills.
"It was a complete finding of liability, just not a finding of damages," Putnam said. "It's a complete victory."
Putnam said he would contest Cussler's $8.5-million award when Judge John P. Shook convenes a hearing to decide whether he will approve the jury's findings.
Jurors deliberated for eight days to determine who was responsible for the financial failure of "Sahara," which starred Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz and has lost about $105 million to date.
Cussler initially sued in January 2004, demanding about $40 million on his claims that Anschutz's producers failed to honor contractual rights that gave him "sole and absolute" approval over the "Sahara" screenplay.
In his countersuit, Anschutz alleged that Cussler fraudulently inflated sales numbers for the Pitt series to land a $10-million-per-book movie deal and that he refused to promote "Sahara" as promised. Anschutz sought $115 million in damages.
On Tuesday, several jurors described deliberations as often contentious, as the panel split 9 to 3 on several key questions on the 60-item verdict form.
Foreman Anthony Villa said jurors ultimately decided that each side was entitled to something.
