Martin Scorsese is being sued for a movie he didn't make 20 years ago.

According to the suit, filed Wednesday by Cecchi Pictures in Los Angeles Superior Court, Scorsese began to discuss directing an adaptation of Shusaku Endo's 1966 novel "Silence" in the 1980s and entered the first of many written agreements in 1990. At the time, it was to be the next feature Scorsese directed after "Kundun," which was released in 1997, according to TheWrap.com.

Cecchi Pictures, a production company led by Vittorio Cecchi Gori, incurred substantial development costs during the process, growing to $750,000 by 2001.

Scorsese opted to direct a series of features rather than the film in question, including "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator."

The Oscar-winning director then allegedly agreed to direct the film, based on the novel about missionaries sent to Japan in the 17th century, after he finished "The Aviator."

Scorsese's spokeswoman didn't respond to a request from TheWrap for comment.

Scorsese allegedly agreed to pay various fees after each feature he directed prior to the adaptation of "Silence," according to the Hollywood Reporter. Scorsese then directed "The Departed," "Shutter Island" and "Hugo," allegedly without paying the fees.

Scorsese's next project is "The Wolf of Wall Street," with Leonardo DiCaprio.

No word on why Scorsese has not opted to do the "Silence"

Cecchi Gori is seeking compensatory damages, as well as payment of their legal fees.

BRITNEY SPEARS HAS MEDICAL CONDITION: Britney Spears has a serious medical condition preventing her from making sound decisions, which is why her conservatorship has lasted more than four years, TMZ reported Friday.

Great. Now we have to stop making fun of her.

Documents were filed Tuesday in the conservatorship case, allegedly asking the judge to seal certain records. In the papers, lawyers for conservators Jamie Spears and Jason Trawick called the records "highly sensitive," adding "irreparable harm and immediate danger" would befall Britney Spears if the documents weren't sealed.

Is she a spy or something?

TMZ cited "multiple sources with firsthand knowledge" who said the records are medical documents outlining the condition and treatment of a disorder affecting Spears' personality that can affect her state of mind. She's supposedly doing "extremely well" but still needs the safety net of a conservatorship. The conservators supposedly have no plans to end the situation anytime soon, which the judge is allegedly OK with.

There are two components of the conservatorship: personal and business. The personal part allows Spears' father Jamie and fiance Trawick to make life decisions for her. The business side, Which Jamie Spears and Trawick also share, involves managing Spears' money and career. TMZ says the business side will likely go on indefinitely because of its success. At least until Spears gets too old for teens to spend their allowances on her records and concert tickets.

PRINCE'S HANDLERS ARE IN TROUBLE: The person in charge of keeping cell phones out of the room when the third in line for Britain's throne decides to play strip billiards with young women in Las Vegas is in big trouble.

The royal family is upset over the Prince Harry naked photos fiasco, not just at Harry, but also at Harry's people, according to TMZ.

Photos showed up on the Internet on Wednesday of Harry and at least one woman horsing around a Vegas hotel room after playing a game of strip pool. TMZ reported more details Thursday morning. Apparently, Harry was drinking with two friends when they all decided to bring some girls they met back to Harry's VIP suite at Encore.

That's when Harry's handlers -- who are probably English or something -- dropped the ball.

When the girls entered the room, they allegedly were not asked to surrender their phones, which should be kind of a given considering Harry has a reputation for being a party boy. As the party progressed, some of them women began taking pictures, prompting one of the security guys to tell them "Awww, come on. No photos."

Forceful. Whatever happened to that British stiff upper lip and whatnot.

Apparently the handlers were paying more attention to their Guiness than the women who were taking pictures of the naked prince.

Hey -- that would be a good band name: Pictures of the Naked Prince.

Anyway, TMZ spoke with several people in the Las Vegas VIP scene, who said they see situations like this every day and it could have been easily contained, but as one source put it, "Harry's team acted like a bunch of amateurs."

In other words, most of the time, what happens in Vegas does stay in Vegas.

BRANGELINA'S OFFSPRING TO APPEAR IN FILM: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's 4-year-old daughter Vivienne will appear in "Maleficent," her mom's upcoming live-action fairy tale film.

They say the kid made it on her own merits. She didn't want anyone to know who she was while auditioning, so she drove herself there in an old Pinto.

Disney announced Wednesday that Viv (only her friends call her that) will play the child version of Elle Fanning's character Princess Aurora in the 3-D reworking of 1959's "Sleeping Beauty." The film explores the origins of the iconic villain, Maleficent.

Jolie plays the sorceress who casts a spell on Aurora, so there's a good chance Jolie and her daughter will act in the same scene. The film is currently shooting in Britain.

A source close to Jolie told Britain's Sun tabloid that "Angie thought it would be a fun experience for her and Viv to share, and Viv is a natural."

Vivienne isn't the first Pitt-Jolie child to appear on the big screen. Daughter Shiloh had a cameo as Pitt's daughter in 2008's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

Contact Tony Hicks at thicks@bayareanewsgroups .com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks.

AUGUST 24 IN HISTORY

Friday is Aug. 24, the 237th day of 2012. There are 129 days left in the year.

79: Long-dormant Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash; an estimated 20,000 people died.

1572: The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris.

1814: During the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol and the White House, as well as other buildings.

1821: The Treaty of Cordoba was signed, granting independence to Mexico from Spanish rule.

1912: Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory. Congress approved legislation establishing Parcel Post delivery by the U.S. Post Office Department, slated to begin on Jan. 1, 1913.

1932: Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, N.J., making her the first woman to fly solo, non-stop, from coast to coast.

1949: The North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

1968: France became the world's fifth thermonuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.

1970: An explosives-laden van left by anti-war extremists blew up outside the University of Wisconsin's Sterling Hall in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht.

1981: Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

1992: Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing $30 billion in damage; 43 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm.

2002: The FBI uncovered human remains in an outbuilding behind the Oregon City, Ore., house of Ward Weaver III, a suspect in the case of 2 missing girls who lived across the street. (Authorities recovered the remains of 12-year-old Ashley Pond and 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis; Weaver later pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to 2 consecutive life terms in prison.)

2006: The International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a planet, demoting it to the status of a "dwarf planet."

2007: A judge in Inverness, Fla., sentenced John Evander Couey to death for kidnapping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, raping her and burying her alive. (Couey died in 2009.) James Ford Seale, a reputed Ku Klux Klansman, was sentenced to three life terms for his role in the 1964 abduction and murder of two black teenagers in southwestern Mississippi. (Seale died in 2011.) Major wildfires broke out in Greece, burning half a million acres and claiming 65 lives in 11 days.

2011: A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed in a broadcast to fight on "until victory or martyrdom" and called on residents of the Libyan capital and loyal tribesmen across his North African nation to free Tripoli from the "devils and traitors" who had overrun it. Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Inc.; he was succeeded by Tim Cook. Mike Flanagan, a Cy Young winner and part of the Baltimore Orioles' 1983 World Series championship team, was found dead outside his home in Monkton, Md.; he was 59.

BIRTHDAYS

Actor Kenny Baker ("Star Wars") (78), actress Anne Archer (65), former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (57), actor Steve Guttenberg (54), baseball great Cal Ripken Jr. (52), talk show host Craig Kilborn (50), rock singer John Bush (49), actress Marlee Matlin (47), basketball great Reggie Miller (47), broadcast journalist David Gregory ("Meet the Press") (42), comedian Dave Chappelle (39), actor Chad Michael Murray (31), singer Mika (29), actor Rupert Grint ("Harry Potter" films) (24).

Associated Press