Martin Scorsese Sued $500,000 For Allegedly Backing Out Of Film Project

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese is being sued for $500,000 for allegedly backing out of a film project.

The 80-year-old film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor is no stranger to these kinds of lawsuits, and The Blast has the latest on the most recent one filed by Op-Fortitude Ltd.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Op-Fortitude Ltd. is a private company that was formed to create a movie called "Operature Fortitude." The full-length film planned to tell the story of a strategic mission that was "pivotal to the course of World War II. No other plot details are known at this time.

For those that might be unaware, Scorsese is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of his own film production company called Sikelia Productions. Inc. On January 25, 2022, Op-Fortitude entered into a written contract with Sikelia to list Scorsese as Executive Producer on the Picture. The agreement called for a payment of $1,000,000 to Sikelia. $500,000 was to be paid upon execution of their contract and the other $500,000 was to be paid at a later point in time.

According to the court filing, Op-Fortitude Ltd. became frustrated that Scorsese had completed no work on the project fifteen months after the contract was signed. They also insist that Scorsese "has been completely non-responsive to Op-Fortitude’s repeated attempts to reach him and secure the fulfillment of his obligations."

The company claims that they "detrimentally relied on Sikelia's and Scorsese's representations that Mr. Scorsese would personally contact actors and other key personnel such as potential director candidates to help Op-Fortitude assemble an all-star cast and lend to the overall value of the project."

"Op-Fortitude spent significant time and resources in partnering with Sikelia and Mr. Scorsese, and Defendants' refusal to perform has put the Picture in jeopardy and resulted in the loss of financing, profits, and other commercial opportunities," they write in the court papers. "Op-Fortitude has also suffered substantial delays in the production of the Picture as a result of Mr. Scorsese's dereliction of his contractual duties."

The court filing reveals that it was actually Martin Scorsese's talent manager that told the company that the established filmmaker had not performed any services on the contract. Although that talent manager seems to have agreed that "a return of the $500,000 payment and termination of the Agreement would be appropriate, Mr. Scorsese and Sikelia have now refused to return the $500,000, despite having provided no services to Op-Fortitude."

Op-Fortitude Ltd. claims that Scorsese's breach of the contract has cost them millions of dollars in damages because they planned to film on location in Europe in late 2022. They claim that Scorsese had assured them that he was available to assist them with locking down A-list directors and cast members for the project despite his busy schedule. It remains uncertain if "Operation: Fortitude" will ever enter production, but the company wants its money back.

In 2012, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Martin Scorsese had been sued by producer Cecchi Gori over an alleged deal to direct the movie “Silence.” Cecchi Gori Pictures, the production company headed by Vittorio Cecchi Gori, claims that it entered into several agreements with Scorsese and Sikelia Productions for him to direct the film.

Cecchi Gori claims that they invested $750,000 to develop the story, which is based on a Japanese novel by Shusaku Endo. The film tells the story of missionaries who are sent to Japan in 1683 to investigate reports of Christians being tortured by the Emperor.

In 2004 and 2011, Scorsese and his company allegedly signed details so that he could postpone directing “Silence” for other films, such as “The Departed,” “Shutter Island,” and “Hugo.” Scorsese reportedly agreed to pay “substantial compensation and other valuable benefits, for the right to direct these three other films prior to Silence,” which are said to be over one million per film.

According to that court filing, Scorsese never paid his agreed-on delay fee for “Hugo” Once the news came out that Scorsese was going to direct “Wolf of Wall Street” for Red Granite instead of “Silence,” Cecchi Gori Pictures filed the lawsuit.

Fortunately, “Silence” was released in 2016, starring an all-star cast of Andrew Garfield, Liam Neeson, and Adam Driver.