Sofia Vergara’s ex — who spent years feuding with the “Modern Family” actress over custody rights of their frozen embryos — was allegedly scammed by a German director into shelling out almost $40,000 on a film undertaking that went nowhere.
Nicholas Loeb, an actor and entrepreneur, hoped to snag Robert Schwentke to helm a flick referred to as the “Art of the Con,” which he described in a lawsuit towards the director as “a historically inspired heist film dramatizing the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in the early 20th century.”
Schwentke, 57, who directed the 2017 movie “The Captain,” allegedly agreed to take the undertaking on in 2022 however provided that his most popular author, Matthew Wilder, took a crack on the screenplay, Loeb claimed in a Manhattan Supreme Court docket submitting.
Loeb shelled out $25,000 to Wilder to rewrite the script, based mostly on Schwentke’s promise, then one other $12,500 in January 2023 after the director demanded a second rewrite.
Regardless that he didn’t wish to rent the screenwriter, Loeb “agreed to retain Wilder solely for the purpose of securing Schwentke as director,” in line with the litigation.
Schwentke even voiced enthusiasm for the undertaking, Loeb alleged.
He imagined that “directing a Lubitsch-style elegant heist-comedy … would be one of the great joys of [his] career,” he informed Loeb, in line with the lawsuit.
The director allegedly stopped responding for months, then “resurfaced” in August 2023?]] demanding a 3rd rewrite “again to be performed by Wilder and again for a $25,000 fee,” Loeb claimed.
Schwentke then ditched the undertaking in March, leaving Loeb on the hook for greater than $37,000 in bills, he claimed.
“Mr. Loeb believes he was swindled by Schwentke in collusion with his friend, costing him millions,” mentioned legal professional Andrew B. Smith, who reps Loeb.
Loeb is looking for unspecified damages “in an amount sufficient to punish” the pair for his or her “willful, malicious, and fraudulent conduct.”
The Westchester-based Loeb spent almost a decade in a high-profile authorized battle with Vergara over the destiny of their remaining embryos created by in vitro fertilization, after their bid to have youngsters failed.
Vergara gained in court docket, stopping Loeb from bringing their embryos to time period utilizing a surrogate.
Wilder and Schwentke didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
