Tommy Lee Jones Claims Paramount Owes Him $10 Million Bag of Loot from 'No Country'
Mon Sep 08, 2008 @ 01:17PM PSTBy Eriq Gardner
Tommy Lee Jones says he is owed $10 million from Paramount for his work on Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men," according to a new lawsuit filed in a Texas district court.
Jones, who played Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in the Coen brothers film, which took home the best picture prize for the Paramount Vantage/Miramax co-production in February, says in the lawsuit that he received a lesser up-front fee in return for "significant box-office bonuses and 'back-end' compensation."
His contract entitled him to the same treatment as Scott Rudin, the movie's producer, and Joel and Ethan Coen, the directors, producers and screenplay writers. Jones says he's owed money based on reports of the film's revenues and also contends that the producers mistakenly made expense deductions.
The film has grossed more than $160 million.