[AKA2D '91]

HBO countersues 'Sopranos' star Gandolfini for $100M
By Gary Levin, USA TODAY

HBO fired back at James Gandolfini with a $100 million countersuit Tuesday over the Sopranos star's refusal to return to work for a fifth season of the acclaimed Mob drama.

James Gandolfini called HBO a "great place to work" as he accepted a Screen Actors Guild award on Sunday.
By Mike Blake, Reuters

The network also notified his co-stars Tuesday that they won't be paid until show production — scheduled for March 24 — resumes.

"We sued him for the enormous loss that will result if The Sopranos goes down the drain," says HBO attorney Bert Fields. HBO asked a judge to prevent the actor from working elsewhere.

Gandolfini sued HBO Thursday in California Superior Court to exit a contract that extends for two more seasons. He claimed HBO didn't meet a deadline to exercise an option for a new season and said California law prohibits any contract for more than seven years. HBO said the network properly exercised the option and noted that the contract applies to New York law, where HBO, the series and Gandolfini are based. A fifth season falls within the seven-year frame because the series began production in 1998.

Gandolfini's lawyer didn't return calls, but has said HBO, which has sold $75 million in Sopranos DVDs, is short-changing the star. He made about $4 million last season and was offered more than $8 million to return, although no raise was due.

Gandolfini was conciliatory at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild awards, calling HBO "a great place to work" and showing up at its party. But HBO chairman Chris Albrecht says the series' future is in jeopardy unless Gandolfini drops his suit and returns to work with no raise. "We would certainly prefer to have the show, but not at the cost of being blackmailed, and not at the risk of creating a situation where anybody that wanted something from us could file a lawsuit," Albrecht says.