Kevin Costner is suing Ascendant Pictures, claiming the company broke an oral agreement to pay him $8m (€6.8m) to act in the romantic comedy Taming Ben Taylor.
Papers filed in the US Superior Court allege Costner and Ascendant agreed in December 2004 on pay and movie royalties.
The Beverly Hills company then pulled out of the agreement in June, according to the suit.
Ascendant Pictures was not available for comment.
The movie was never made. The script was about a grouchy, divorced man who refuses to sell his failing vineyard to the golf course next door.