George Zakk, who served as an executive producer on xXx and Riddick, has filed a lawsuit against frequent collaborator Vin Diesel, claiming that he worked on xXx: the Return of Xander Cage and was never credited or paid for his work.
Videos by ComicBook.com
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 (you can read it here thanks to Deadline). “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.
xXx: the Return of Xander Cageresurrected the dormant xXx franchise, which had launched with a pair of films in 2002 and 2005. The second film delivered a less-than-stellar box office, and with Diesel’s market value exploding, Xander Cage was shelved for a decade.
Fans remembered the franchise, though, and never stopped asking about it. The Return of Xander Cage was announced not long after Riddick brought back Diesel’s star-making character from Pitch Black.
Zakk also served as an executive producer on The Chronicles of Riddick and as a consultant on a video game based on the franchise.
