Film Fridays – Vin Diesel sued over ‘xXx: Return of Xander Cage’ for $2 million

TMZ reports that this lawsuit represents Zakk’s second go-’round with the legal system in this case, after a court in 2016 instructed the producer to gather additional evidence and come back. In the interim, the film — which was released in January of 2017 — came out and confirmed Zakk’s suspicion that he had not been credited.

That is not the whole story, though; the 2016 law suit appears to have continued until May, with multiple attempts by Zakk to amend the complaint to the judge’s satisfaction.

At the heart of the case: Zakk claims there was an oral contract between himself and Diesel, but the court was not buying it and even called some of his allegations “a sham.”

“Because Plaintiff’s new allegations were designed, apparently, for no other reason than to avoid the reach of the statute of frauds and a demurrer without leave to amend, the Court finds that the TAC’s new allegations are a sham,” the Judge wrote. “Accordingly, this basis standing alone is sufficient to sustain the demurrer or strike the TAC.”

The lawsuit apparently attempted to claim a role in the film based on correspondence between Zakk and Diesel made when Zakk worked for Diesel in 2007.

“Finally, as alleged in the TAC itself by Plaintiff, the terms of the writing were simply negotiations, and, therefore, cannot constitute evidence of a contract that actually existed.”

Zakk claims that he worked with the film, and was promised an onscreen credit plus $200,000. He is suing for $2 million for what he is owed, plus presumably breach of contract and punitive damages.

– Article written by Russ Burlingame for Comicbooks.com. Full article found here.