Randy Quaid
© AFP/Getty Images/File Kevin WinterLOS ANGELES (AFP) - The actor withdrew the suit he had filed in Los Angeles in March after receiving a bonus from the studio that released the Oscar-winning movie, said Sue Madore, a representative for the actor.
Court records showed that lawyers for the star of "Midnight Express" and "Independence Day" had asked a Los Angeles judge to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning that he could refile the same claim in the future.
A message left with Quaid's attorney Dana Hobart was not immediately returned, but Madore said he had received a bonus after filing suit that he shared with other cast members.
However the studio that released the film, Focus Features, disputed Quaid's assertion that a deal had been reached with the actor.
"The circumstances of him dropping the suit are as mysterious as the circumstances under which he filed his claim," a spokesman for Focus said in a statement quoted by the entertainment website E! Online.
"Focus Features never negotiated, offered or agreed to any settlement agreement with Mr Quaid or his attorneys, but we are happy to put this behind us, and do wish Mr Quaid all the best."
Quaid, 55, sued the sudio and producers of the independently-made movie that won the best director and two other Academy Awards in March, claiming he had been hoodwinked into accepting smaller-than-usual remuneration for his role.
Without specifying how much he was paid, the actor claimed that producers falsely told him the movie would be "a low-budget, art house film, with no prospect of making any money."
Taiwan director Ang Lee's gay cowboy tale, which cost only 14 million dollars to make, became an Oscar-winning sensation, raking in 160 million dollars in global ticket sales.
But Quaid, who played tough sheep rancher Joe Aguirre who hired the amorous cowboys played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, claimed that by Hollywood standards, a low-budget movie budget costs between 500,000 dollars and seven million dollars.
He had accused producers, including James Schamus, David Linde and Focus, of deliberately misleading him into taking a low salary by falsely claiming that "everyone was making sacrifices" to get the controversial movie made.
"By virtue of the misrepresentations, (producers) have enriched themselves to the tune of approximately 160 million dollars in worldwide gross box office receipts on the back of actors who were convinced to cut their fees purportedly to ensure that the film reached the screen," the suit stated.
Quaid alleged that he had suffered a loss of at least 10 million dollars as a result of the producers' alleged antics and that he "would never have agreed to allow (producers) to enrich themselves at his expense."
The suit also claims that producers "were engaged in a 'movie laundering' scheme designed to obtain the services of talent such as Randy Quaid on economically unfavorable art film terms."
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