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LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Best-selling author Clive Cussler testified Tuesday he was told by a producer that he didn't have screenplay approval rights for the film "Sahara" following numerous attempts to polish the script.

Cussler, 75, maintains he entered into an agreement with Crusader Entertainment that paid him $10 million for the adaptation of his book "Sahara" and approval of the final screenplay before filming began.

The dispute over Cussler's creative control is the key point in the author's suit against Crusader, a company owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz. Cussler argues Anschutz's company breached the contract reached between the two sides, while Crusader has sued the novelist, accusing him of being uncooperative and disparaging the movie publicly before it came out.

Each suit seeks millions of dollars.

Cussler, whose testimony lasted a brief 1 1/2 hours, was not cross-examined by attorneys representing Anschutz's company. Outside of court, they said they planned to question Cussler when they present their case.

"They just gave us their best case, and it didn't warrant a response," attorney Marvin Putnam said.

Cussler disputed the notion put forth by Crusader's attorneys during opening statements that he was a defiant presence during the filmmaking process. He testified he approved at least four versions of the screenplay but each time was told by producers another writer would be hired to work on the script.

"I can appreciate other writers' works," he said.

Cussler said he provided three screenplay rewrites himself between September 2001 and July 2002. His attorney Bert Fields displayed e-mails from producer Karen Baldwin praising Cussler for his input.

"It was my fervent hope using terrific sections (of prior screenplays) with my own expertise, at last we would come out with a screenplay everyone would like," Cussler said.

But Cussler grew upset when he saw a version created by Josh Friedman, who wrote "War of the Worlds" and "The Black Dahlia." Cussler scribbled a note in 2002 to Baldwin and called Friedman's screenplay "amateurish" and "juvenile."

"I told her I wouldn't approve it," Cussler said in court. "It didn't follow the storyline and strayed from it."

After a couple more writers were brought in, Cussler testified, he was told by producers in 2003 he didn't have approval rights to the final screenplay. He didn't elaborate but said the final product changed major plot points and "tore the heart" out of the story.

"They ruined it," Cussler said.

Cussler later bashed "Sahara" in various media interviews, according to court documents.

The 2005 film starred Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz and cost an estimated $160 million to make but earned only $68 million in the United States. Attorneys for Anschutz's company claim about $80 million in losses on "Sahara."

Cussler said he's received about $12 million from Crusader -- $10 million for "Sahara" and another $2 million for a second film based on another of his books.

Called the "Grandmaster of Adventure," Cussler has written 32 books, 19 of which feature his alter-ego Dirk Pitt, including "Sahara." Both sides had hoped adapting Cussler's books would lead to a lucrative franchise such as the "Indiana Jones" or "James Bond" series.

Cussler's book "Raise the Titanic!" was made in 1980 but bombed at the box office.

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