In 2005, Crusader Entertainment made a horrible movie out of Clive Cussler’s book, Sahara (which probably isn’t much better – a protagonist named “Dirk Pitt”?).  The film lost $80 million, and Cussler sued, angry that he wasn’t given script approval, alleging the film company breached their licensing agreement.

“Two years ago, a jury returned a verdict that ordered Cussler to pay $5 million. Crusader wasn’t satisfied with the judgment, claiming that lawyers had billed the company more than 35,000 hours. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Shook agreed, this week ordering Cussler to pay $14 million in legal fees.

The damage for Cussler could be even more significant, with reported legal fees to his own lawyer, Bert Fields, tagged at $8.5 million. Total pain for Cussler? More than $27 million and counting. After all, Fields plans to appeal the decision for his client, which will probably cost more money.” [THR]

Wow, and to think, they could’ve just paid the lawyers $80 million directly. Or they could flush it down the toilet, where it would eventually make it to the lawyers anyway.  Get it? Lawyer joke! *BONG* Hey, know what’s the difference between JFK and a lawyer? People were SAD when JFK got his head blown off!  Wakka wakka wakka!