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Frank Dux v.
Jean Claude Van Damme
Van Damme continues to deny oral contract with former friend, says he was never producer of "The Quest"
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30 (Court TV) -- The animosity between Jean-Claude Van Damme and former friend, martial artist Frank Dux, flared up again as Van Damme denied preventing Dux from receiving credit for his work on "The Kumite."
Dux says that Van Damme failed to live up to an oral agreement to pay him 2.5 percent of the gross revenue (gross points) from "The Kumite." Dux also signed a separate deal to write the script for "The Kumite," but the movie was never made because its production company went bankrupt. When Van Damme subsequently starred in a similar movie, "The Quest," Dux did not receive the screenwriting credits and filed suit.
But in his second trip to the witness stand, Van Damme told the jury that he never negotiated contracts himself and denied offering Dux a percentage from the gross revenue of "The Kumite." Insisting that he was not the producer of "The Quest," Van Damme denied previous witness Sheldon Lettich's claim that he owned the movie and said he did not have the power to promise Dux gross points.
Watch Friday's hostile exchanges between Dux's attorney and Van Damme.
(6:38)
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Plaintiff attorney Steven Kramer confronted Van Damme about the similarities between "The Kumite" and "The Quest," suggesting that he conspired to prevent Dux from receiving due credit for the movie. Van Damme exploded at the implication and said that he never prevented Dux or anyone else from receiving credit for their work.
"I never stopped credit for Frank Dux," Van Damme said. "I never, swear to God, took a name off a credit. You bring in someone to say that."
Van Damme said that he would have preferred to use the money he has spent on the suit to help poor people.
"I was paying a quarter of a million dollars on this [suit]," Van Damme said. "I can help people, I have a foundation...I would like to give the money to people on the street."
Before Van Damme came to the stand, Dux testified that he expected Van Damme to pay for his services on "The Kumite." During re-cross examination, Van Damme's attorney, Martin Singer, asked Dux about the definition of gross points. Singer asked Dux if he and Van Damme had considered how gross revenues were going to be calculated and whether they included only theater ticket sales or also included cable revenue and videotape sales and rentals. Dux said he and Van Damme did not discuss their agreement in such fine detail. He said he assumed gross points meant "the whole shebang."
Dux rested his case after an employee from Behavior Worldwide, which handled the foreign distribution for "The Quest," testified that the movie made approximately $20 million outside the United States. Judge James Kaddo denied the defense's motion for a directed verdict but ruled that Van Damme cannot be held liable for the $50,000 Dux was not paid for the screenwriting credits on "The Quest." Van Damme is still may be liable for his alleged promise of gross points.
Van Damme returns to the stand on Monday.
Reported by Court TV's Bryan Lavietes
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