A powerful Hollywood producer (De Niro) juggles negotiations with a studio head executive to get his latest flick at the Cannes film festival in two short weeks while also dealing with a highly-strung director obsessed with making more edits, an unpredictable leading actor attracting all kinds of media attention, his ex-wife who may have a new lover and his depressed 17-year-old daughter.

Following through on his threat, the Die Hard star has filed a multimillion-dollar countersuit against a film company that sued him for allegedly walking off the set of a movie he was set to direct last fall.

The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, accuses producers Moshe Diamant, Mark Damon and their Foresight Unlimited company of fraud for falsely representing that they had complete financing for 3 Stories About Joan when, per Willis, they had failed to deposit the money in escrow when cameras started rolling.

Foresight filed a lawsuit last month seeking $4 million in damages, claiming Willis left them in the lurch after abruptly quitting the $20 million production without explanation on Sept. 29.

Willis’ lawyer and publicist both separately blasted the producers, saying they never paid him (he was due $196,000) or the crew.

Willis is asking for punitive damages for fraud and breach of contract among other allegations in addition to compensatory damages amounting to $8.75 million.

A rep for Foresight could not be reached for comment.

··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today’s most commented stories now at www.eonline.com