Crash Director Wants To Get Paid

You have to love Hollywood accounting. Generally the producers and studios try and screw over anyone not a producer, but in this case, even the producers are getting screwed.

Crash director Paul Haggis is suing one of his co-producers on the Oscar-winning movie over $4.7 million in unpaid royalties. Haggis claims he is owed the millions in profits from the 2005 box office hit and has accused Bob Yari of breach of contract.

The filmmaker is disputing an agreement signed in 2002 regarding the distribution of royalties, which depended on the film's financial success. Crash, which went on to win three Academy Awards was originally made on a budget of just $6.5 million plus $1 million in financing, but went on to gross over $100 million worldwide - more than 10 times its original cost.

However, Yari has argued in court documents that the movie was not as profitable as it seemed, because various additional production costs had not been taken into account. Haggis is not the only person suing Yari over Crash's financial issues - legal suits have also been launched by Bobby Moresco, who co-wrote the film, and co-producer Cathy Schulman.

This one is going to be very hard to say there is no money. When you have this many people suing you, of which two are producers and presumably know the truth about the money, you probably are going to have to cough up.