During the delays, Trans World replaced Sybil Danning with Kathy Shower, the recently crowned Playmate of the Year, who received her first feature starring role as the tough operative Kat Withers. Danning responded by threatening a $1.5 million lawsuit, alleging that Trans World had hired her largely to raise international financing and then discarded her once the money and package value had been secured. Trans World chief Moshe Diamant offered a different version, claiming that Danning had been offered other roles in the revised production but declined them. The dispute became especially awkward because Fred Olen Ray later said he would have preferred to make the film with Danning, even though the production ultimately proceeded with Shower. Mike Norris was also displaced from the male lead during the reshuffling: although he continued to discuss the picture publicly and had been associated with the earlier incarnation, Brian Thompson eventually took the role. Norris moved on to another Trans World project, Survival Game. The episode illustrates the precarious bargaining position of performers in low-budget international filmmaking, where casting could be altered repeatedly as financing, sales prospects, and promotional plans changed.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 1980s
The Star Swap That Turned Commando Squad into a Hollywood Contract Dispute
Sybil Danning, Kathy Shower, and Trans World Entertainment / 1980s
During the delays, Trans World replaced Sybil Danning with Kathy Shower, the recently crowned Playmate of the Year, who received her first feature starring role as the tough operative Kat Withers. Danning responded by threatening a $1.5 million lawsuit, alleging that Trans World had hired her largely to raise international financing and then discarded her once the money and package value had been secured. Trans World chief Moshe Diamant offered a different version, claiming that Danning had been offered other roles in the revised production but declined them. The dispute became especially awkward because Fred Olen Ray later said he would have preferred to make the film with Danning, even though the production ultimately proceeded with Shower. Mike Norris was also displaced from the male lead during the reshuffling: although he continued to discuss the picture publicly and had been associated with the earlier incarnation, Brian Thompson eventually took the role. Norris moved on to another Trans World project, Survival Game. The episode illustrates the precarious bargaining position of performers in low-budget international filmmaking, where casting could be altered repeatedly as financing, sales prospects, and promotional plans changed.
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