'Sopranos' Showdown

First comes the awards, then, the attorneys.

Just two days after enjoying the glow of collecting two Screen Actors Guild awards for the lead actor and actress in "The Sopranos," HBO was back to business as usual, firing back at "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini in a contract dispute.

HBO attorney Bert Fields filed a counterclaim against Gandolfini in Superior Court in Los Angeles, seeking over $100 million in damages if the actor fails to show up for work when the mob drama resumes taping on March 24.

The dollar amount, says Fields, represents "the damages that will result from his failure and refusal to perform his contract... Those damages are staggering. It would mean the loss of two years of 'The Sopranos.' "

And dollars are just what this fight is all about.

Published reports say Gandolfini, who earns about $400,000 an episode, is seeking anywhere from $750,000 to $1 million an episode.

Gandolfini, who plays New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano in the hit HBO drama, fired the first shot - legally speaking - in the dispute when he filed suit against HBO last week.

His suit asks that his contract with HBO be cancelled, because the cable channel allegedly breached the agreement by missing the deadline for letting him know that his services would be needed for a fifth season.

Fields calls Gandolfini's claims "frivolous" and "demonstrably false."

For his part, Gandolfini's attorney, Martin Singer, says "if HBO wants to litigate in the courts, we feel very confident we will prevail."

Last week, Singer said the lawsuit against HBO didn't mean that Gandolfini was refusing to show up for work. This week, Singer says the question of whether the actor will turn up on the set as scheduled is a decision that hasn't yet been made.

But HBO says at this point, just showing up for work won't be enough.

"We can't proceed if he (Gandolfini) doesn't affirm his contract," says Fields, speaking for the cable channel. "If he sticks with the position he's taking now, we won't have another season of 'The Sopranos."'

Fields confirms the fight is all about money and adds that although HBO offered Gandolfini "very generous increase, he asked for a massive one."

The clash over cash is so serious that the chairman of HBO is getting publicly involved. CEO Chris Albrecht says he was shocked by Gandolfini's lawsuit, which came in the middle of contract talks.

In a New York Times interview, Albrecht warns that the salary dispute threatens "the future of the series."

On Sunday, Gandolfini received a Screen Actors Guild award for his role in "The Sopranos." In his acceptance speech, he called HBO "a great place to work." But he also noted that "things get pretty weird" once you become a successful actor.

He says his lawsuit doesn't mean he's "ungrateful" for his plum role in the hit show.

And in a statement Tuesday, he expressed optimism, saying he's "sure everything is going to be fine."