10 Horror Movies That Led To Massive Lawsuits

7. Adrien Brody Didn't Get His Salary - Giallo

Giallo 2009 Dario Argento
Hannibal Pictures

Giallo is a bit of a weird entry on this list. Its director - horror legend Dario Argento - is no stranger to controversy, but this case is definitely unique.

Though the film itself - a by-the-numbers throwback about a detective on the hunt for a killer - was nothing to write home about, it made international headlines thanks to its disgruntled star, Adrien Brody.

Just after the flick premiered at festivals, Adrien Brody immediately slapped the filmmakers with a fat lawsuit, claiming that he was extremely underpaid. Arguing that the salary agreed upon in his contract wasn't fulfilled, Brody didn't want the studio making money off his international appeal while he himself wasn't fully compensated, and as a result the home video release of Giallo was delayed while the lawsuit was ongoing.

It took just under a year, but Brody was eventually awarded the remainder of his full salary - totalling around $640,000 according to the Deadline write up at the time - and Giallo finally got a proper release; not that the film itself was worth the wait.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.