Phil Anschutz, the famously reclusive businessman, is not used to being seen and heard so much.

The Denver billionaire is expected to testify as a witness for the defense in the high-profile trial of former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio.

And he already has appeared in front of a jury once this month.

Via videotape.

Lawyers in a Los Angeles courtroom played Anschutz's testimony on March 12 in a case pitting his movie company against author Clive Cussler, according to legal documents.

Anschutz made those statements months ago, and it's unclear if he'll need to show up in person to add to the deposition. His spokesman, Jim Monaghan, did not comment Thursday.

Cussler had initially claimed in a 2004 lawsuit that Anschutz's film company, Crusader Entertainment, failed to grant him the discretion it promised in a deal to turn his book Sahara into a movie.

The film was a flop.

Crusader, now Bristol Bay Productions, responded with its own lawsuit. The company argued Cussler did not live up to his end of the bargain and sabotaged the movie by bashing it in interviews.

In one deposition - parts of which were played for the jury in Los Angeles Superior Court - Anschutz recalled a few meetings with Cussler. He worried about the $10 million he had agreed to give Cussler for the movie rights.

"I had said to Mr. Cussler, 'The price that you are asking for each of these books seems rather high,' " he said, according to a transcript. "In fact, quite a bit higher than the going market price. . . . And he said, 'No, that may be the case, but it's well worth it to you.' "

Cussler reminded Anschutz he had sold more than 100 million copies of his books, was "adored by his fans and readers and that he was willing to go out and promote these movies," the transcript read.

Anschutz's company in another lawsuit has said Cussler's agent hid the truth about the number of books the novelist sold. Sales at the time the two sides reached a pact were "somewhere in the range of 30 million books," the lawsuit contends.

Anschutz discussed an encounter in the Phoenix airport in early 2004, after Cussler had distanced himself from the project.

"I was very interested in him re-engaging so he could keep his bargain that he made to support the picture and help promote the picture," Anschutz said. "I paid a lot for not only the rights to make this picture, but in my mind I was acquiring a franchise."

patonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2544