Movie Extra Wins $18.5 Million After Stunt Cable Shatters Skull on Transformers 3 Set

On September 1, 2010, Gabriela Cedillo was one of roughly 80 extras driving their own vehicles along a closed stretch of Cline Avenue in Hammond, Indiana, for a high-speed convoy sequence in Paramount Pictures' Transformers: Dark of the Moon. She was behind the wheel of her 2006 Toyota at about 50 miles per hour when a tow cable attached to a stunt vehicle snapped and rocketed through her windshield.

The cable struck Cedillo in the head with tremendous force. Emergency crews airlifted her to Loyola University Medical Center, where surgeons removed approximately one-third of the top of her skull to relieve swelling on her brain. She lost sight in one eye. Her early medical bills alone surpassed $350,000, and physicians determined she would require round-the-clock nursing care for the rest of her life.

Todd Smith and Brian LaCien, representing Cedillo's family, built the case around the stunt apparatus itself. Evidence showed the cable bracket had been attached to the lead vehicle with what the attorneys described as a wholly inadequate superficial weld. The same stunt had failed the day before the accident; the production continued with the same equipment rather than pulling it from service. The lawsuit also alleged that Paramount and DreamWorks lacked the required permits for pyrotechnics and explosive devices on the set that day.

The defendants attempted to move the case to California, an effort that was unsuccessful. The litigation remained in Cook County, where Cedillo's team pressed claims against both studios for negligence in supervising the stunt and for allowing defective rigging to remain in use after an earlier failure.

In May 2012, a Cook County judge approved an $18.5 million settlement. Roughly $5 million was directed to state public-aid programs that had covered Cedillo's medical costs. The remainder was structured to fund the lifetime nursing, rehabilitation, and medical expenses her condition demands. At the time of approval, Cedillo was receiving ongoing rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Todd Smith said at the time: 'She will be taken care of. I would not have resolved this case if I did not think so.'