UK-based producer-financier Anton has responded to a legal suit brought against it and producer John Zois by Kate Beckinsale in which the actor alleges the set of 2024 action film Canary Black was unsafe and dangerous and resulted in her sustaining “severe and debilitating injuries”.
An Anton spokesperson told Screen: “We follow strict safety standards on all our productions. We are reviewing these allegations, which we believe are meritless.”
Directed by Pierre Morel and starring Beckinsale as a CIA operative blackmailed by terrorists, Canary Black filmed on location in Croatia in late 2022 and early 2023. It was released last year by Amazon MGM Studios.
According to the filing, Beckinsale alleges the set was unsafe, and that “despite prior agreements with defendants to provide necessary resources and personnel to safely manage her physical condition while being exposed to the intense physical demands of being the lead in an action movie, many key resources, equipment, and trained personnel were not provided”.
Additionally, the suit alleges that despite a 12-hour limit on shooting days in Beckinsale’s contract, filming would often go for 15 hours.
Beckinsale further alleges that when she returned to filming in February 2023, after taking time out to recover from a knee injury sustained during the shoot, producers ignored the filming limitations imposed by her doctors.
The suit was initially filed anonymously in December 2024, before being served to Anton Entertainment, the defendant, with detailed allegations and Beckinsale’s name in May 2025.