Four Years Later, Robert Rodriguez Is Being Sued For 'Sin City: A Dame To Kill For'

Director Robert Rodriguez is known for his shoot-'em-up action movies like El Mariachi and Desperado, but now the filmmaker finds himself under fire regarding a dispute about a movie he made four years ago. One of the producers of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has filed a suit against Rodriguez for "causing production delays that led to $20 million in cost overruns" on the visual effects-laden sequel.

Read more about the Sin City A Dame to Kill For lawsuit below.

When the first Sin City movie came out in 2005, it was praised for how it utilized green-screen technology and digital cinematography to essentially recreate pages of comic book writer Frank Miller's blood-soaked noir story and bring those images to life in live-action. The idea for a sequel was bandied about for years, with Angelina Jolie being eyed for the title "dame" role. Ultimately, that part was played by Eva Green, who proved to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dull and repetitive follow-up. By the time Sin City: A Dame to Kill For finally came out in 2014, it landed with a thud.

But now the movie is back in the public eye again, thanks to a lawsuit filed by producer Sergei Bespalov. Deadline says that Bespalov filed the suit on Monday, accusing Rodriguez of a "pattern of misbehavior" that led to the movie going over budget, which damaged its financial prospects in the long run.

But why did Bespalov wait so long to file this? It seems that now is the time to bring this issue to light because he apparently "brought in outside investors, including Merkel Business Overseas, which now claims [Bespalov] owes it $10 million on the film." So another company is coming after this producer for the money, and he's now looking for Rodriguez and Rodriguez's companies to pay those costs.

Bespalov and Aldamisa Entertainment accuse Rodriguez and his corporate entities, Fifth Brain and El Chingon Productions, of breach of contract, bad faith and false representation (for allegedly failing to secure a deferred service agreement with a special effects company willing to work on the production for less than $10 million) and misrepresentation.

The producer is asking that Rodriguez and the various production entities be held liable for any damages Merkel wins in court, plus legal fees that Bespalov incurs defending himself against the suit.

Rodriguez hasn't commented yet, but this definitely isn't the legacy he had in mind for this sequel when he was making it. We'll keep you posted with whether this situation will impact any of Rodriguez's future projects.