“The Usual Suspects” actor Stephen Baldwin was slapped with a lawsuit over a $110,000 book advance by a Manhattan publishing house.
Hachette Book Group, which reps bestselling authors like Nicholas Sparks, is suing the youngest of the acting Baldwin brothers for failing to deliver the manuscript of a non-fiction work titled “Ready to Get Dangerous?”
In the book Baldwin was supposed to “show readers what it means to live everyday as a ‘sold out, hardcore, nothing-held-back Jesus freak,” according to papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday.
But when Baldwin, 47, missed multiple deadlines Hachette canceled the contract and asked for a return of the advance plus attorneys fees.
Baldwin, known for his devout Christian beliefs, signed the publishing contract in March 2007 and received $100,000.
But he blew through the first deadline on Jan. 1, 2008 and at least four extensions. He received another $10,000 after initialing an amended agreement in 2010.
The actor stood to earn another $150,000 for a completed book, depending on sales.
Baldwin had published an e-book with Hachette in 2007 called “The Usual Suspect: My Calling to the New Hardcore Faith Movement.”
The Rockland County actor has a history of money woes– in July a state judge ordered him to repay the $300,000 balance on a $400,000 fine for not filing three years of income tax returns from 2007 to 2010.
Messages to Baldwin’s reps were not immediately returned.