The Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids star faced the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Monday in the latest lawsuit over her directorial debut, a musical comedy fittingly named The Deb.
The film's release was shelved in 2024 after Wilson fell out with co-producers.
Vince Holden, Gregor Cameron and Amanda Ghost claim Wilson and her company Camp Sugar breached consumer law concerning misleading conduct and breached various contracts when making allegedly defamatory statements about them to her 11 million Instagram followers in July 2024.
The producers claimed Wilson accused them of inappropriate conduct toward the lead actress in the film, embezzling funds and trying to block its release.
Wilson was accused of preventing the release by undermining negotiations with potential distributors and threatening an injunction against showing the film in Australia.
In a cross-claim, Wilson and Camp Sugar allege Ms Ghost, Mr Cameron and Mr Holden's involvement in the film was marked by "a troubling pattern of illicit egregious behaviours, including theft, bullying and sexual misconduct".
Wilson claimed Ms Ghost broke verbal agreements over writing credits and a soundtrack album deal and Mr Cameron and Mr Holden embezzled $900,000 from a joint venture company set up to make the film.Â
Wearing a purple dress, the Hollywood star sat in the back row of the small courtroom, frequently typing on her phone, as her barrister Dauid Sibtain SC questioned one of the film's producers.
Mr Holden, part of AI Film Production Limited, which brought the lawsuit, was asked about a series of budget and financing emails regarding the 2024 film.
Mr Holden agreed he asked for a "last-chance call" in October 2023 over AI Film's requests for increased fees and Wilson's offer to reduce her acting and directing fee to $1 million.
Mr Sibtain asked if Wilson had been incredibly upset and angry at AI Film's proposed $300,000 fee rising to more than $650,000 plus finance costs without consulting her.
"I would not say upset," Mr Holden said.
"She didn't like the fees being there."
After he cut off further money towards the film, Mr Holden told fellow producers: "the clock has stopped ticking and I'm waiting for the boom."
"AI Film had advanced considerable funds to keep the production on time and we didn't have a final agreement on fee levels," he said.
AI Film had planned an "extremely bold investment" toward producing The Deb before securing a share of the rights to the film.
"You accepted that $15 million was a lot of money to risk on a first-time director, do you agree?" Mr Sibtain asked.
"Correct, yes," Mr Holden said.
Mr Holden agreed AI Film was "quite content to risk that money and see where it ended up" and that the risk increased when the budget "subsequently went up to over $20 million".
AI Film company directors claimed these alleged statements breached contracts and Wilson's obligations as production company director.
That allegedly caused economic loss, a potential film distributor to withdraw an offer and reputational damage to the producers.
Wilson and her company had an initial fee of six per cent of the film's budget, shared 50-50 with AI Film.
The Deb - eventually released in April 2026 - had multiple estimates for its potential worldwide revenue, starting from a predicted loss of $4.5 million if it performed poorly.
If successful, the film could "break even" or make a multimillion-dollar profit, Justice Elisabeth Peden heard.
As a musical comedy with an Australian theme, The Deb's predicted revenue was based on films Pitch Perfect, Muriel's Wedding, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Strictly Ballroom.
"They were all breakout successes but some of them came out 15 to 30 years ago," Mr Sibtain said.
"When people went to cinemas, before streaming?"
The hearing continues.
The equity case follows a blockbuster defamation trial in May involving Wilson and the star of her directorial debut.
Australian actor Charlotte MacInnes claimed she was defamed in four social media posts by Wilson but a judge in July dismissed the case.
8°C