The producers of the Ben Affleck-led and Robert Rodriguez-directed film “Hypnotic” have filed a lawsuit accusing their insurance company of refusing to extend their policy to account for the pandemic.
The lawsuit, which contends that the insurer’s refusal could kill the project, is considered the first to test as to whether film insurers will be forced to accommodate delays caused by COVID-19.
Filming was to begin in April but the project was delayed due to the pandemic. The producers purchased a cast insurance policy from Chubb National worth $58 million to be paid out in the event that Affleck or Rodriguez became ill or died and was unavailable during production.
The policy, which didn’t carry a COVID-19 exclusion, had an expiration date of October 28th this year which would have covered it under the original schedule. Filming is now aiming to start in Vancouver in October and Chubb has reportedly refused to extend the expiration date to account for the delay. The suit alleges Chubb is thus violating established industry customs and practices.
Source: Variety
