The ex-wife of Michael Douglas launched a legal bid Tuesday to get half the actor's earnings from his participation in the expected hit movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, dpa reported.
Diandra Douglas was divorced from her husband in 2000 after 23 years of marriage. But she claimed Tuesday in court that she was still entitled to half Douglas' earnings from any sequel to the 1987 original Wall Street movie hit, in which her then-husband starred.
Lawyers for Michael Douglas - who has been married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones for the last 10 years - countered in court that that he doesn't own the copyright to Wall Street, so any fortune made from the film isn't his, the New York Daily News reported.
"He couldn't give it to her - he has no right to exploit Wall Street," said Marilyn Chinitz, a lawyer for the actor. "You can't give away what you don't have."
In the new movie, which hits screens September 24 in the US, Douglas reprises his role as disgraced Wall Street financier Gordon Gecko, who summed up the excesses of the 1980s with his motto "Greed is good."
The new film is again directed by Oliver Stone and centres around a reformed Gecko, who tries to help Wall Street avoid an impending stock-market crash.
The legal trouble is far from the most serious issue facing Douglas at the moment. The actor, 65, announced last week that he had throat cancer and plans to undergo eight weeks of radiation and chemotherapy treatment.