Costner settles suit over failed project

Kevin Costner settled a lawsuit over a deal to star in a romantic comedy whose financing fell apart, according to court papers obtained Wednesday.

The terms of the actor’s settlement with Ascendant Pictures, as well as a cross-complaint filed by the production company, were not divulged in a two-page document confirming the accord filed Monday by Costner’s attorney, William A. Bossen.

Neither Bossen nor Robert N. Treiman, the attorney for Ascendant Pictures, was immediately available for comment.

Costner, according to court papers, was to be paid $8 million, but the movie, “Taming Ben Taylor,” was never made.

Costner sued the Beverly Hills-based company in Los Angeles Superior Court in November 2005, saying executives had promised to pay him to star in the film about a grouchy, divorced man who refuses to sell his failing vineyard to the golf course next door.

Last April, Ascendant Pictures filed a cross-complaint against Creative Artists Agency, the talent agency that had represented Costner since 1996 and that was working to close the deal in negotiations with the production company.