Academy Award winner taking on MGM on profits.

ACADEMY Award-winning producer Alan Ladd Jr. and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. studio executive Jay Kanter have sued Warner Bros. Pictures and its parent company, AOL Time Warner Inc., for breaching a profit-sharing contract over distribution of their movies.

Under a 1979 arrangement, Ladd and Kanter produced such films as "Chariots of Fire," "Blade Runner" and the "Police Academy" movies through a joint venture called Ladd Co.

Warner Bros. acted as the distributor, and in 1985 Ladd and Kanter ended the joint venture but were "guaranteed to receive continued payments of its share of gross receipts," according to the suit, filed July 31 in L.A. Superior Court.

Instead, the suit says, Warner Bros. failed to assign the appropriate value to some of the movies when selling them as part of a package to broadcasters and cable companies, said John Gatti, a partner at Alschuler Grossman Stein & Kahan LLP.

An audit conducted by the plaintiffs claims the former partners are due $2.5 million from Warner Bros. for licenses signed between April 1997 and March 2001. Ladd and Kanter also allege in the suit that Warner Bros. refused to allow auditors to review books coveting the period from September 1992 through March 1997.

Warner Bros. spokeswoman Barbara Brogliatti declined comment, citing studio policy.

Ladd was president of 20th Century Fox in 1977 before starting his own production company. He was chief executive of MGM from 1990 to 1993. He removed an Academy Award as a producer of "Braveheart" in 1995. Kanter was chairman of production at MGM until 1994.

Unfaithful Dealings

Diane Lane isn't the only unfaithful one. At least, that's the allegations she made in a July 28 lawsuit fried in Los Angeles Superior Court. Lane, nominated for an Academy Award for her role in the 2003 movie "Unfaithful," claims producers Intermedia Film Equities USA Inc., Intermedia Film Equities Ltd. and their parent company, IM International Media AG in Munich, Germany, breached a contract for her to co-star in a movie called "Me Again" with Bruce Willis.

Lane signed a "play or pay" contract in February in which she was to receive $3.5 million, whether the film was produced or not, according to the complaint.

Lane agreed to the contract as long as Willis remained her co-star, the complaint says. In her suit, Lane said when she discovered Intermedia could not fund the movie or hold onto Willis, she sought payment. She received three payments totaling more than $833,000, according to court papers, and has sued for breach of contract, misrepresentation and fraud to recover the remaining $2.6 million.

"This was a last resort by Miss Lane to collect the money," said Michael Bergman, a partner at Weissmann Wolff Bergman Coleman Grodin & Evall LLP representing Lane.

Dennis Higgins, spokesman for Intermedia Film Equities USA., declined to comment.

Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at [phone] ext. 225, or at [e-mail].