Wishing to preserve her artistic integrity, Bujold walked away from her contract with Universal Studios in the early 1970s. The resulting lawsuit was settled when she agreed to appear in the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, with Charlton Heston, and the 1976 adventure Swashbuckler, with Robert Shaw. In the ensuing years, she had leading roles in Brian De Palma's acclaimed Hitchcockian thriller, Obsession, with Cliff Robertson (1976); Another Man, Another Chance, with James Caan (1977); box office hit Coma, with Michael Douglas (1978); Walt Disney fantasy The Last FLIGHT of Noah's Ark, with Elliott Gould (1980); Monsignor, with Christopher Reeve (1982); and Tightrope, with Clint Eastwood (1984).