Michael Douglas is revisiting a $25 million contract dispute with Kathleen Turner that followed the private romance they shared while making Romancing the Stone.
The actor and producer, 82, discussed their working relationship in an Oct. 8 interview with TheWrap, following the publication of his memoir, One Helluva Ride.
The legal confrontation concerned The Jewel of the Nile, the 1985 sequel that reunited their characters, adventurer Jack Colton and novelist Joan Wilder. Douglas was producing the movie as well as starring opposite Turner.
Looking back at their first production together, he credited her patience and support during a difficult shoot. “It was a deep friendship. It started out with deep respect and then slid into an intimacy,” he said.
Turner Hired Roy Cohn as the Sequel Dispute Escalated
Fox wanted the follow-up in theaters by the next Christmas, Douglas writes in the memoir excerpt published by PEOPLE. Turner had a contractual commitment to return but objected to the screenplay and tried to withdraw.
Douglas’s account identifies the studio as filing a breach-of-contract suit in Los Angeles Superior Court. Turner hired attorney Roy Cohn to represent her. In a 2018 interview with Vulture, she said, “I didn’t sign up to compromise the quality of my work.”
A 1989 Reuters report in the Los Angeles Times said the lawsuit was dropped after Turner secured changes to the screenplay.
Douglas recalls the two exchanging pages and working through scenes together. He writes that those sessions also helped them repair their personal relationship after the romance and the disagreement over making another movie.
Lewis Teague directed the sequel, taking over from Robert Zemeckis. Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal wrote the screenplay using characters created by Romancing the Stone writer Diane Thomas, according to TCM. The adventure took Joan to North Africa, with Jack and Danny DeVito’s Ralph drawn into a rescue mission.
Douglas Says Diandra’s Visit Ended the Affair
In the memoir, Douglas places the romance during the first film’s production in Mexico. Although he describes himself and his first wife, Diandra, as separated, they remained legally married.
As Wealth of Geeks previously reported, Douglas says he and Turner kept their relationship private enough that Zemeckis and DeVito did not know about it. He also acknowledges that their subsequent public denials were intended to protect his wife and son.
The situation changed when Diandra arrived with Cameron. Douglas writes that she told Turner the marriage was still intact and understood the terms of their separation differently than he did. Turner stepped back, and Douglas returned to Diandra, saying he made that decision for their son.
They Reunited for ‘The War of the Roses’ and ‘The Kominsky Method’
DeVito directed Douglas and Turner again in 1989’s The War of the Roses, casting them as a married couple whose divorce becomes increasingly destructive.
Decades later, Turner played Roz Volander, the former wife of Douglas’s acting coach Sandy Kominsky, in Netflix’s The Kominsky Method. Their characters’ difficult relationship became a central part of the third and final season, released in 2021.
Douglas and series creator Chuck Lorre asked Turner to return after Alan Arkin’s departure. During a 2021 Deadline panel, Douglas praised her contribution to the final season, while Lorre described wanting to explore reconciliation between people who had loved each other years earlier, Woman’s Day reported.
Before publishing the memoir, Douglas asked Turner whether she was comfortable with him disclosing their romance. Speaking on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, he said she agreed and also gave him permission to include other stories from their years together, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Turner responded to the excerpt in a statement to PEOPLE: “Good heavens what a fuss about something 40 years ago! I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book.”