Amber Heard sued for $10m over 'conspiracy' in London Fields promotion

Another lawsuit has been filed over the film London Fields – this time directed at actor Amber Heard.

In the $10m suit filed by the film’s producers, Heard, who starred as Nicola Six in the adaptation of the 1989 Martin Amis novel, is alleged to have “breached performance and promotional obligations”, the Hollywood Reporter wrote.

The star-studded film features Heard as a psychic who foresees her own murder, alongside actors Billy Bob Thornton and Jim Sturgess, with a cameo by her former husband Johnny Depp.

London Fields was slated to make its debut at the Toronto film festival last year before being removed from the festival lineup after reports emerged that director Matthew Cullen would sue the producers for fraud, claiming they were marketing the film using his name despite debuting a version that he had nothing to do with. His suit against Christopher Hanley and other producers complained that footage of “9/11 jumpers edited against pornography” and a juxtaposition of “the holiest city in Islam against mind-control” had been inserted into the film.

The producers called the cancellation an “ill-considered decision made against our rights” at the time. In a statement, Muse Productions said Cullen missed deadlines to submit a “director’s cut”. Hanley’s Nicola Six Limited then filed a cross-complaint against Cullen. This latest suit is listed as “closely related” to that complaint, according to the 24-page document posted online by Deadline.

The suit against Heard, filed in Los Angeles superior court, stated that “Heard’s conspiracy, her campaign against the Picture, and her contractual breaches … have damaged the Picture, causing substantial harm to the Plaintiff, the Picture, and the Picture’s investors”. Among many claims, it alleged that she breached confidentiality obligations, failed to perform certain acting services and failed to comply with her publicity contract, according to the document. Later in the document, it states that her “misguided and unlawful conspiratorial campaign” against the film is ongoing.

The film has received mostly poor reviews with the Guardian’s Henry Barnes calling it “awfully silly”.