A producer of the Oscar-winning film Crash, has been ordered to pay $12m (£7.6m) in damages to director Paul Haggis and actor Brendan Fraser.
The Los Angeles Times reported that earlier this year a judge ruled Bob Yari had improperly withheld profits from the $100m (£64m) grossing movie.
Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Buckley said Mr Yari breached his contract by “diverting funds to third parties”.
Mr Yari’s lawyer said: “We respectfully disagree with the decision.”
Haggis – who also wrote the screenplays for Million Dollar Baby and two of Daniel Craig’s James Bond films – launched legal action in 2007, claiming Yari breached a profit sharing agreement made in 2002.