LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) — Instead of making James Gandolfini an offer he can’t refuse to stay in “The Sopranos,” HBO and the producers of the TV series went to court Tuesday and sued him for $100 million while at the same time quietly reopening negotiations with him.
As Gandolfini noted when he won a Screen Actors Guild award Sunday for his performance as mob boss Tony Soprano, “things get pretty weird” once you become a successful actor.
HBO and the producers of the hit cable-TV series “The Sopranos” — about a Mafia family — filed a $100 million countersuit against Gandolfini in the same Los Angeles Superior Court where he sued to get out of his contract last week. A spokesman for Gandolfini said, “We believe these matters will be settled amicably and judiciously.”
Sources close to both sides said Gandolfini is in active negotiations with the production company over salary and has the full support of show creator David Chase and the cast, many of whom say the show would collapse without him.
He is reportedly seeking to double the $400,000 per episode he commands for making 13 one-hour installments each season.
Gandolfini sued the cable network and Sopranos Productions, Inc. last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeking to cancel his contract on the grounds that the company failed to inform him that the series had been ordered for a fifth season in a timely manner.
The actor signed a contract with six optional years with the production company in 1997, according to the HBO lawsuit.
The loss of “The Sopranos” would be a huge blow to HBO, the subscription cable channel owned by AOL Time Warner. The show broke records for a cable show last year by pulling in 13.4 million viewers for its premiere and is HBO’s most popular offering.
Negotiating ploy
Bert Fields, the attorney for HBO and Soprano Productions, told Reuters that the actor had been properly informed about new filming and that Gandolfini’s suit “is frivolous” and only a negotiating ploy in the actor’s part.
According to the HBO lawsuit, Gandolfini’s representatives have demanded significant increases in his compensation each year the contract was renewed. “Although it had no obligation to do so, (Sopranos) Production has granted such increases,” the complaint said. Gandolfini decided to file a lawsuit shortly after he turned down a pay raise that was lower than what he had demanded, the suit said.
Gandolfini’s contract specifies that the show’s producers had to inform him within 10 days of signing a deal for a new season with HBO that his acting services would be required for the coming season, Fields said.
In his suit, the actor claimed he learned about Chase’s deal from the Wall Street Journal, and was not informed by producers until more than 10 days later that the show would be picked up for a fifth season, Fields said.
“It’s absolutely nuts,” Fields said. “The contract doesn’t cover what the Wall Street Journal says.”
The actor’s lawsuit also contends that his contract violates California laws that limit personal service contracts to seven years. In its countersuit, HBO responded that California law does not apply to Gandolfini’s contract, because he lives and shoots the show primarily in New York.
At the SAG awards, Gandolfini thanked HBO and said he was sorry if the publicity over his lawsuit made him seem ungrateful. Backstage he said, “I am sure everything will be fine” and when asked by a reporter how much he wanted to be with the show, he hemmed and hawed and finally smiled sheepishly, saying, “You know.”
The “Sopranos” cast is due back in the studio to begin shooting new episodes March 24.
