# In 1989, Al Pacino was sued for $6,000,000 after he quit a movie. Four years later, he made it with someone else

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1989-al-pacino-was-sued-for-6000000-after-he-quit-a-movie-four-years-later-he-made-it-with-someone-else/
- Published: 2026-10-29T17:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T05:13:02+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/in-1989-al-pacino-was-sued-for-6000000-after-he-quit-a-movie/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- Pacino quit an early *Carlito’s Way* adaptation.
- Producer Elliott Kastner sued for $6 million in 1989.
- Pacino made the film with De Palma in 1993.

## Summary

Al Pacino withdrew from a planned late-1980s adaptation of *Carlito’s Way* after working on it with producer Elliott Kastner for more than a year. Kastner sued him in 1989, seeking $6 million, but the case was later dropped; Pacino eventually returned to the role in a 1993 film made with producer Martin Bregman and director Brian De Palma.

Pacino had first become interested in Edwin Torres’s novel after meeting the judge at a New York gym in 1973. Kastner said he had spent about $1 million developing the abandoned project, including hiring Marlon Brando, and sought a further $5 million in damages. Pacino resumed acting with *Sea of Love*, then starred in several films before *Carlito’s Way* reached cinemas; the film initially had a mixed reception but later became a cult favourite.

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