spaminator
04-01-2006, 01:44 AM
Action Accident
It’s expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer, but producers of the latest Mission: Impossible movie are busy dealing with a kind of action – legal action.
A stuntman who was badly burned on the film set last year filed a suit Wednesday against Paramount Pictures, star Tom Cruise’s production company, and others whom he believes were responsible for the incident.
Steven Wheatley seeks unspecified damages for negligence following the June 6th, 2005 incident, which occurred at the S.O.S. FilmWorks site near Los Angeles.
The stunt Wheatley was assisting on was meant to simulate a missile attack on a Chevrolet Suburban. He claims that "suddenly and without any prior warning" the stunt’s explosives detonated, engulfing him in flames. Sixty per cent of his body was burned in the accident.
Wheatley claims the defendants failed to ensure there were fire extinguishers nearby, or fire department officials on hand to prevent the kind of severe injuries he sustained.
Representatives for the studio and Cruise’s C/W Productions said it was their policy not to comment on pending legal matters.
The cast for the action film is probably the most impressive of the Mission: Impossible series thus far. In addition to Cruise returning to the role as Ethan Hunt, M:I 3 stars recent Best Actor Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as villain Owen Davian, Ving Rhames as Hunt’s sidekick, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.
The film opens on May 5th.
It’s expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer, but producers of the latest Mission: Impossible movie are busy dealing with a kind of action – legal action.
A stuntman who was badly burned on the film set last year filed a suit Wednesday against Paramount Pictures, star Tom Cruise’s production company, and others whom he believes were responsible for the incident.
Steven Wheatley seeks unspecified damages for negligence following the June 6th, 2005 incident, which occurred at the S.O.S. FilmWorks site near Los Angeles.
The stunt Wheatley was assisting on was meant to simulate a missile attack on a Chevrolet Suburban. He claims that "suddenly and without any prior warning" the stunt’s explosives detonated, engulfing him in flames. Sixty per cent of his body was burned in the accident.
Wheatley claims the defendants failed to ensure there were fire extinguishers nearby, or fire department officials on hand to prevent the kind of severe injuries he sustained.
Representatives for the studio and Cruise’s C/W Productions said it was their policy not to comment on pending legal matters.
The cast for the action film is probably the most impressive of the Mission: Impossible series thus far. In addition to Cruise returning to the role as Ethan Hunt, M:I 3 stars recent Best Actor Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as villain Owen Davian, Ving Rhames as Hunt’s sidekick, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.
The film opens on May 5th.