Celebrity Mound

A judge says Mel Gibson will have to answer questions about planning and filming “The Passion of the Christ” in response to a screenwriter’s lawsuit.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon on Tuesday ordered Gibson to appear for a deposition by mid-January. Gibson’s attorneys had tried to keep him from having to answer questions regarding his blockbuster film about Jesus’ last hours.

Screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald is suing Gibson, claiming he was underpaid for his work on “Passion.”

Fitzgerald’s attorneys claimed Tuesday that his payments were eroded by Gibson’s spending habits while filming the movie in Italy, including “tens of thousands” of dollars on his children’s education and a $78,000 chiropractor bill.

One source said, “He’s a pariah in Hollywood,” adding that studios have refused to distribute Gibson’s next movie, “Edge of Darkness.” But independent producer Graham King told us, “The only reason I didn’t sell the movie [to a studio] is I had to get a SAG waiver. If I had a distribution deal with a studio, I never would have gotten the waiver.” The Screen Actors Guild is expected to go on strike June 30, and shooting for “Edge of Darkness” is slated to start Aug. 18. Asked if there was a boycott against Gibson, King, who won an Oscar for “The Departed,” said, “I don’t think so. We took the movie to Cannes. I sold the movie in Israel. It surprised the hell out of me.” William Morris agency chairman Jim Wiatt said, “It’s not true that the studios won’t work with Mel. He’s been offered movies by Fox and Warner Bros. and others.”

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Mel Gibson, who’s being sued by a writer over payment for the “The Passion of the Christ” screenplay, wants to keep financial information about the blockbuster movie out of the public eye.

Benedict Fitzgerald claimed in his February lawsuit that Gibson misled him into accepting a small payment for writing the script by saying the movie would cost between $4 million and $7 million.

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 was $25 million to $50 million. The lawsuit claims fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and seeks unspecified damages.

In court filings Tuesday, attorneys for Gibson and his production company asked the court to seal the movie’s financial records and only allow Fitzgerald’s lawyers access to them. The information details the movie’s domestic and foreign box office receipts, production costs and distribution expenses.

The defense is also seeking to dismiss some of Fitzgerald’s claims, including fraud, which if proven would allow Fitzgerald to seek punitive damages.

A sheriff’s supervisor considered withholding details about Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic rant from an arrest report but was eventually overrruled by a captain, a department watchdog said Thursday.

Gibson was arrested July 28, 2006, for misdemeanor drunken driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The actor-director’s remarks, detailed in a report leaked to celebrity Web site TMZ.com, provoked outrage and he later apologized.

The report also says three Los Angeles County sheriff’s employees violated policy in Gibson’s arrest.

Sheriff’s personnel neglected to take Gibson’s palm print upon his release, follow proper procedures before driving him to a tow yard to retrieve his car and sign a certain department form, the report said.

The employees – two sergeants and a jailer – have since been disciplined for the minor procedural violations, sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said. One received a one-day suspension; the other two received a written reprimand.

Gibson’s spokesman, Alan Nierob, declined to comment on the report, issued by the Office of Independent Review.

After pleading no contest to the charge on Aug. 17, 2006, Gibson was given three years’ probation, ordered to pay $1,400 in fines and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

The report also concluded that no violations have been found in Paris Hilton’s jailing earlier this year for driving on a suspended license while on probation for an alcohol-related reckless-driving case.

“The Office of Independent Review is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do, which is monitoring the Sheriff’s Department,” Whitmore said. “That makes transparency more than a buzzword, it makes it a reality.”