Director Martin Scorsese has been hit with a lawsuit over allegations he has stalled a film project for over 20 years.

Bosses at Cecchi Gori Pictures filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday over claims the legendary filmmaker entered into an agreement to direct a movie called Silence in 1990, but put off the project to work on The Departed, Shutter Island and Hugo.

Martin Scorsese poses during a photocall for the seventh Marrakech International Film Festival

According to court papers obtained by TMZ.com, Scorsese agreed to pay Cecchi Gori Pictures so he could work on the other projects before Silence, but allegedly failed to hand over money from his 2011 Oscar-winning animation Hugo.

The lawsuit states the director owes a flat fee of $1.5 million (£937,000), as well as a percentage of his producer fee and profits.

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