Deftones

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/calenda...pranos-CR.html


NEW YORK - Fans of HBO's popular drama ``The Sopranos'' may have to fuhgeddabout a fifth season after James Gandolfini, the actor who plays the family patriarch, filed a lawsuit on Friday seeking a release from his contract.

Gandolfini, a two-time Emmy award winner for his portrayal of conflicted mob boss Tony Soprano, alleged in a suit filed in California that HBO violated a clause in his contract when it failed to notify him of a $20 million deal it struck with David Chase, the show's creator.

The end of ``The Sopranos,'' which broke records for a cable show last year by pulling in 13.4 million for its premiere, would be a huge blow to HBO, the subscription cable channel owned by AOL Time Warner .

``The Sopranos'' is HBO's most popular show, and it spawned a string of HBO hits such as ``Six Feet Under'' and ``Curb Your Enthusiasm.''

The network dismissed Gandolfini's suit as a negotiating ploy designed to extract more money. The show's fifth season was scheduled to begin shooting in April, according to a spokesman.

Gandolfini receives about $400,000 an episode under a deal renegotiated after the first season of ``The Sopranos,'' according to Variety, roughly in line with stars like Martin Sheen of NBC's ``The West Wing'' but far below the $1.6 million per episode paid to Kelsey Grammer for NBC's ``Frasier.''

Network television shows generate advertising revenue, while commercial-free HBO derives its revenue solely from subscriptions.

Several other actors on ``The Sopranos,'' including Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico and Jamie Lynn-Sigler, have recently renegotiated their contracts in recent months, according to reports in industry trade publications.

Gandolfini and ``Sopranos'' production company Brillstein-Gray were not immediately available for comment.''

Iron Chef

Patman

Damn, that would suck!

Then again, they could whack Tony (shot the scene so that you only see the backside of Tony's head) in the season 5 opener, and then promote Christopher or Silvio.

das Monkey

• Quoth Patman •

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Then again, they could whack Tony (shot the scene so that you only see the backside of Tony's head) in the season 5 opener, and then promote Christopher or Silvio.

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Can't do the show (at this point) without Tony. It's about more than just gangsters.

I'm sure it's just a negotiating ploy. I really hate when this **** happens though. Money and ego shouldn't get in the way of quality television. Writers, producers, actors, etc should all get paid what they're worth, but too often they all abuse their position to force another's hand to the detriment of the series.

If you sign a contract for length, you accept the risks that entails. Unless there's more to this story than the surface, this kind of end-around is pretty bad. Part of me would want HBO to call his bluff; send him a picture of Shelly Long and tell him to leave.

das

adamblast

No way! She'd make a horrible Tony. I suppose the lesbian angle would be cool, but it's still not worth it.

CaptainMarvel

I'd hate to be the lawyer who forgot to send the letter notifying Mr. Gandolfini about the 5th season right now.

Buttmunker

James Gandolfini IS The Sorpranos! Give the man more money, he deserves it. He earned it.

HistoryProf

it'll happen. He's asking for 750,000 an episode....a quarter mil less than each and every Friend mind you....and HBO would be stupid not to fork it over. They will do whatever they have to to make it so. Hell, i'd imagine they make his salary back on dvd sales in the first week alone. He's earned it, so give it up!

Brian_92gsr

And each Friend does twice as many episodes per year, and probably spends much less time per episode than James (isn't it filmed over the course of a few hours on a single day?).

Ralph Wiggum

He'll be back.

If he left, so many people would never forgive him. I bet he'd have a difficult time getting work after pulling a stunt like that.

GuessWho

To put it another way, the time on-air equals out, so at James' current 400K per episode...

Gandolfini
13 hours of TV (13 hourlongs)
$5,200,000

Friends
13 hours of TV (26 1/2 hours)
$26,000,000

clemente

Look at this way...

Friends - 25 million weekly viewers
Sopranos - 12.5 million weekly viewers

hgar78

yeah, it's just a formality to get more money. i think jane kazmeruck(sp?) did this recently (or someone else, cant remember) anyway, they'll pay it. he'll be back.

i dont think its very fair, especially to his castmates, but when greed and ego gets the better of you, you turn out like this.

rskinfn

You cant really compare apples and oranges. Friends has a commerical base so NBC can sell the show at a greater cost to the advertivers. HBO would be well advertised not to pass this cost along to subscribers.

Gandolfini is no Clooney. He is a great actor but he cannot carry a movie- The Last Castle?

I would like to see the last season of the Soprano's without him. The first episode could pick up with a scramble for leadership and follow how his family picks up the pieces. What would make or break the show would be the writing.

Red Dog

Comparing Gandolfini to the Friends cast members.

If there was anyone who ever deserved this kind of money for television, it is him.

LostHiWay

$400k and episode does seem low compared to what other lead actors make on a TV series. I know this is HBO and no commericals but come on, $750k an episode seems reasonable.

conscience

He'll get what he wants.

If those West Wing nobodies can get a pay raise, he sure can.

But it does seem odd, when a cast member gets a pay raise the ratings goes down.

calhoun07

I hope Gandolfini gets what he wants. HBO should have just ended the series with season 4, as planned, but they got greedy, and now they may have to pay out the nose. No bleeding heart here for them. I am sick of TV networks trying to milk more cash out of their cows when they could just put them out to pasture at the height of their game. FOX is particuarly an offender of trying to squeeze more milk out of old cows.

Buck Turgidson

Or he could send them tapes of the latter day Chico and the Man with the little tiny kid, or Welcome Back Kotter w/ the blonde guy in for Barbarino.

Charlie Goose

Well, the reason the "little tiny kid" was on Chico and the Man wasn't because Freddie Prinze was holding out for more money, it was because he killed himself.

Does Gandolfini deserve more money? Of course. HBO is making a fortune from the show, and without him there is no show.

Does Gandolfini have the right to break his contract to blackmail HBO into giving him more money. Of course not.

Honk!

Buck Turgidson

Thanks. I recall.

My point is still the same: that show is in a world of hurt without him, ethics of his tactics aside.

Also, I would like to point out that everyone is so sure that HBO is right that JG is only pressing for money. I'm not so sure that that is definitely the case. He's been making noise about being unhappy with the character for a couple of years now. This might seem bizarre, but it's not necessarily something that he's come up with out of the blue. He's unhappy w/ Tony's folk hero status, and has made no bones about it. Plus, a lot of actors hate to get bogged down playing the same role for too long, rewarding or not. That's not always smart or logical, but it is often true.

outcastja

Didn't four or five other actors on the show also complain, and asked for raises last year?

tommyp007

I'll send in $10 bucks to help him get his raise to get another season on the air

johnglass

That won't even get you an autograph!

costanza187

depressing