So, via AP, Randy Quaid is suing Focus Features, Del Mar Productions, and producers David Linde and James Schamus for tricking him into working for cheap on "Brokeback Mountain":

Quaid filed a lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging producers got him to work cheap by falsely claiming "Brokeback" was "a low-budget, art-house film, with no prospect of making any money."

"Yet from day one, defendants fully intended that the film would not be made on a low budget, would be given a worldwide release, and would be supported as the studio picture it always was secretly intended to be," the lawsuit says.

Quaid agreed to waive his usual seven-figure fee and share of gross profits in favor of a much smaller payment, the lawsuit claims, although it doesn’t say how much he was paid.

We may have spit up a wee bit of our coffee with that last bit — Randy Quaid gets paid 7-figures?

Some responses:

Eugene Hernandez:

The whole thing feels rather opportunistic, I mean sure he has that great "stemming the rose" line, but how many scenes is he in? 3 or 4? And the most outrageous part is that he is claiming to be "an instantly recognizable household name and much-admired actor on the world’s stage." Sorry, but…since when? Which world is he talking about?

Did anyone go see "Brokeback" to see Randy Quaid?!"

Ty Burr:

What the lawsuit really exposes — and about time — is the entire Hollywood house of cards on which notions of "independent film" vs "studio movies" are built. If Quaid actually considered a movie starring two hot young male actors, directed by Ang Lee, and produced by one of the premiere boutique outfits in town to be a no-name indie, then he’s as guilty of self-delusion as — well, everyone in the film industry and the media that covers it.

David Poland:

Though the media sucker… uh, reporters reported on the "indies at the Oscars" over and over and over and over and over and over, anyone thinking straight always realized that $15 million – $20 million movies are not indies, no matter what division of a massive conglomerate is releasing them. Now that The Weisnteins are in bed with MPAA signatory MGM, Lionsgate is the only true indie still in this budget range. Fox’s "The Family Stone" cost less than Brokeback… is it more, less or equally indie?

We’re rather of the inclination that Quaid is full of crap — no way was "Brokeback" a safe bet, and Quaid’s small role may have been memorable, but it sure as hell didn’t carry the film.

+ Quaid Sues Over Payment for ‘Brokeback’ (AP)
+ movie laundering… (eugonline)
+ Quaid Sues Over Financial Rose-Stemming (Boston Globe)
+ Randy Quaid: Futurist Or Fuck Up? (The Hot Blog)