David O. Russell quits Gyllenhaal's 'Nailed'

Director David O. Russell has quit the troubled indie comedy Nailed, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The Jake Gyllenhaal/Jessica Biel project, about a waitress who gets shot in the head by a nail gun and goes to Washington to fight for better health care, was shut down several times during filming due to unpaid fees to crew and acting guild members.

Financier Ronald Tutor, who is currently finalising a deal to buy Miramax, has failed in his negotiations to get Russell on board to reshoot scenes and finish the movie. Russell allegedly objected to requests that producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher cut their fees in half.

Russell said that the decision to leave Nailed was "a painful process".

"The circumstances under which the film would now be completed are much different on several fundamental levels than when we embarked several years ago," he commented. "I, unfortunately, am no longer involved in the project and cannot call it 'my' film. I wish Ron Tutor well."

Tutor added of the helmer's departure: "[He] conducted himself like a perfect gentleman. I understood his position. It really didn't have anything to do with him but with others, and we just reached a point where I couldn't do what he wanted.

"But it was a decent negotiation between the two of us. No lawyers. No idle threats, just two people trying to clean something up, and we couldn't get there. It was surprising and disappointing, but I understood."

Tutor added that he will seek out another director to complete the project.

Russell, meanwhile, is finishing work on his boxing drama The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale.