Uma Thurman settles 'Eloise' film flap

By Eriq Gardner

Uma Thurman got her payday for "Eloise in Paris" after all.

In 2008, British-based Handmade Films signed the actress to a deal to star in an adaptation of the children's classic. Thurman was scheduled to get $4.5 million plus 10 percent of certain receipts to star as the governess of a young girl who goes to Paris for Fashion Week.

But Handmade backed out, according to a lawsuit that followed, and Thurman was offered a $1.5 million cancellation fee.

The actress wanted more, and so she retained Bert Fields to pursue the nearly $10 million she expected to get. According to the original complaint, Handmade was given the opportunity to, um, repudiate the repudiation and allow Thurman to proceed as scheduled. The saga became even weirder when Handmade allegedly doubled down on the repudiation and denied any existence of an agreement with Thurman.

Now 20 months later, it appears that "Eloise" is back on, with Thurman attached to star once again, after the two sides agreed on a $10 million settlement.

They could have saved the legal fees by avoiding this mess, of course, but Handmade (the film company founded by former Beatle George Harrison) ran into some financial difficulties and recently went through a financial restructuring that may have paved the way to restarting the project.