NO CASH FOR AN OLD MAN

     Actor Tommy Lee Jones is suing the makers of Oscar-winning movie No Country for Old Men for more than US$10 million that he claims he is owed for starring in the 2007 hit crime thriller.
     In his lawsuit against Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures, 61-year-old Jones claims he was promised "significant box-office bonuses" and other compensation depending on the success of the film, which went on to make more than US$160 million.
     Jones, who played Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in the movie, claims he was not paid promised bonuses and had expenses wrongly deducted.
     The lawsuit says that Jones was paid a reduced upfront fee in joining the film, and that his contract had known errors not corrected before the movie was made.
     As part of his contract negotiations, Jones insisted he receive the same treatment as Scott Rudin, the movie's producer, and Joel and Ethan Coen, the directors, producers and screenplay writers, under all of the terms of the contract, including the percentage of box office bonuses he would receive.
     But in the lawsuit, Jones argues that in December 2007 - a month after the film's nationwide release in the United States - Paramount representatives told him that the contract supposedly contained a "mistake," regarding "a major issue involving the deduction for home video expenses."
     According to the lawsuit, Jones claims company officials revealed they were aware of the supposed mistake before he signed the contract and acted in the movie and before it became a commercial success.
     The lawsuit goes on to say that then in January company officials contended a second "mistake" had been made in the contract, regarding the formula in determining box-office bonuses.
     The movie, which is set in West Texas and based on a critically acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel, won for Academy Awards this year, including an Oscar for Best Picture.
     Netherlands-based N.M. Classics, Inc., a Paramount subsidiary, is also named in the lawsuit, filed in Bexar County District Court in San Antonio, Texas, were Jones lives.
     The star is asking that an auditor be named to review financial records to determine how much he should be paid.
     Jones says he was fraudulently made to render his services under a contract the company knew contained mistakes, though they didn't inform him of them until after the movie had been made, by which time it was too late.
     The star declined to comment through his publicist.
     His spokeswoman Jennifer Allen said:"The paperwork stands for itself."
     No County for Old Men was a co-production between Paramount Pictures and Miramax Films, with Paramount handling much of the film's release outside of the United States.
     Paramount Pictures have so far not commented on the lawsuit.