‘Passion’ writer to sue Mel Gibson

Just as the 14-week screenwriters' strike is finally settled, it turns out that one Hollywood writer still has a gripe - not with the studios, but with Mel Gibson, the actor turned film-maker. Benedict Fitzgerald, who wrote the script for Gibson's worldwide blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, claims he was "callously and greedily" duped by Gibson into accepting a small payment for the script, and was refused anything extra when the film became a hit. He is suing Gibson for $5m.

According to the lawsuit filed on Monday in Los Angeles, Fitzgerald claims that when he was asked to write the script about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Gibson promised not to receive any money from the film himself "because he was so rich" and said any profit would be distributed to people who worked on the film. The actor also said Gibson didn't want any money "on the back of what he considered a personal gift to his [Roman Catholic] faith", claims Fitzgerald, who is suing for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith, unfair business practices and unjust enrichment.

The 2004 movie went on to earn $612m in worldwide box office receipts. According to reports, Gibson invested $30m of his own fortune in the project when the traditional studios refused to come on board, and ended up making a personal profit of more than $395m because the film was independently produced. Yet Fitzgerald claims he struggled to get his hands on a $75,000 production bonus, which he only received because he permitted his writing credit on the movie to be shared with Gibson.