Benedict Fitzgerald, the writer suing Mel Gibson over The Passion of The Christ, has asked a Los Angeles judge to order a more thorough accounting of the movie's finances.
Fitzgerald, who co-wrote the 2004 film, filed legal action against Gibson last year (08), claiming the superstar cheated him out of millions of dollars in potential earnings.
He alleges he was only paid $75,000 (£49,340) and had to borrow $200,000 (£131,580) from Gibson to cover expenses. The Passion Of The Christ went on to gross an estimated $600 million (£400 million) worldwide.
Fitzgerald claims he was told the film's production budget was between $4 million and $7 million (£2.6 million and £4.6 million).
Gibson recently provided the court with evidence that the movie's budget was actually around $30 million (£20.7 million) - but Fitzgerald is adamant the real numbers are much higher and has asked the judge overseeing the case to order a re-evaluation of the picture's accounts.
Fitzgerald claims he should have been paid a fee more in line with the true cost of the movie, according to TMZ.com.
Despite receiving mixed reviews from the critics The Passion of the Christ, which was filmed in Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew, was a box office hit grossing over $611 million at the global box office.
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