The battle between the cast of 'Modern Family' and 20th Century Fox is heating up in a very public way.
Julie Bown, Ty Burell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara [photos] have all filed a lawsuit over contract renegotiations going into season four of the hit show.
The cast members have been attempting to renegotiate their contracts for nearly 18 months.
Sources close to the situation have made clear that the dynamic between the cast and the studio has remained cordial. However, the expected no show at a scheduled table read and the formal complaint is a clear sign that the actors are growing increasingly frustrated with recent offers.
According to The Chicago Tribune, the actors are said to earn about $60,000 per episode, with Ed O'Neil drawing around $100,000. The studio's most recent offer to the five cast members was said to be a bump to the $150,000 range for season four, with bumps in subsequent seasons in exchange for them adding two more years to contracts that now run through season seven.
However, since their contracts bind them to the ABC show from February 2009 to June 30, 2016, the actors claim their current contract is a violation of a California law that prohibits personal service contracts from exceeding seven years.
"Modern Family has been a breakout critical and financial success," the lawsuit states. "That success, however, has been built upon a collection of illegal contracts."
But privately 20th Century Fox believes the cast wants to renegotiate only because the magnitude of the hit show, and would have completed their contracts if it wasn't.
The table read that was scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday was cancelled by producers an hour before it was set to begin as it became obvious that there would be quote a few no shows.
The cast is hoping banding together will yield them a greater result. The six stars of 'Friends' similarly joined together to fight for a higher salary for their final season and each of them went on to earn $1 million an episode.
The battle between the cast of 'Modern Family' and 20th Century Fox is heating up in a very public way.
