Screenwriter sues Mel Gibson over 'The Passion' script

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A screenwriter has sued Mel Gibson and his production company, claiming he was misled by the actor-director into accepting a small payment for writing "The Passion of the Christ," and was refused extra money when the film became a blockbuster.

Benedict Fitzgerald claims that when he was asked to write a script about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Gibson told him the movie would cost between $4 million to $7 million, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Superior Court. Fitzgerald also alleged Gibson promised he wouldn't receive any money from the film and any profit would be distributed to people who worked on it.

Gibson stated he didn't want "money on the back of what he considered a personal gift to his (Roman Catholic) faith," the lawsuit said.

Fitzgerald, who shared screenwriting credits with Gibson, claimed he agreed to "a salary substantially less than what he would have taken had he known the true budget for the film," which the lawsuit claimed had an estimated budget of $25 million to $50 million. The 2004 movie went on to gross several hundred million dollars.

The lawsuit doesn't specify how much Fitzgerald was paid.

An after-hours call to a publicist for Gibson, 52, wasn't immediately returned.

The lawsuit claims fraud, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and seeks unspecified damages. It also names Gibson's Icon Productions LLC as a defendant.

Raper The Game gets 60 days for having gun

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It's game over for The Game.

The rapper was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail after pleading no contest to felony possession of a firearm in a school zone.

Two other counts were dismissed under a plea agreement, the district attorney's office said.

The 28-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, was accused of pulling a gun on a player from an opposing team during a pickup game at a South Los Angeles school nearly a year ago.

Superior Court Judge Fred Wapner credited the rapper with two days already served toward the jail time and imposed 150 hours of community service and a three-year probationary term.

An e-mail to the rapper's attorney seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Buckle up, Hannah Montana!

YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) — In a blog item posted Monday, Consumer Reports magazine says 15-year-old superstar Miley Cyrus, who plays Hannah Montana on television, is seen in her new movie riding without a seat belt in the back seat of a Range Rover.

So is her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, the Yonkers-based magazine says.

The movie is the 3-D Disney concert film "Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," which is based on Miley Cyrus' TV show and has made more than $50 million in less than two weeks.

Telephone calls and e-mails to Disney and to several of Miley Cyrus' representatives, seeking comment, were not immediately returned Monday.

The magazine says 65 percent of the 13- to 15-year-olds killed in auto accidents in 2006 were not wearing seat belts.

"It seems to us that Miley, her father and Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract — rather than encourage — this trend," the blog item says.

Ron Isley's tax evasion appeal rejected

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An appellate court has upheld Ronald Isley's 37-month federal prison sentence for tax evasion.

The three-judge panel rejected the 66-year-old R&B singer's argument that his sentence was unreasonable due to his age, poor health and lack of proof that the federal prison system can provide him adequate health care.

In its ruling, the appellate court said the trial judge was correct in sentencing and "best balanced the need to sanction Mr. Isley's 'pathological' tax evasion against the need to accommodate Mr. Isley's poor health."

Isley was sentenced in 2006 after being convicted of five counts of tax evasion and one count of wilful failure to file a tax return.

Prosecutors said Isley avoided paying taxes numerous times over a three-year period and declared bankruptcy after the IRS seized his yacht, cars and other property in 1997.

He was discharged from bankruptcy four years later, but then did not file tax returns for the years 1997 to 2001 and in 2002 did not sign his return and failed to pay all taxes due.

Isley suffered a minor stroke in July 2004, but got married one year later and continuously performed concerts at that time. He is incarcerated at the Terre Haute Federal Corrections Institution in Indiana and his projected release date is in April 2010.

Isley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was part of the Isley Brothers, whose hits included "Twist and Shout" and "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)."