The actors' union Equity has given six months notice of its request for negotiations to be opened with film bosses. The move comes in the wake of a threatened strike by US actors and screenwriters.

Equity wants to enter into talks with the Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television over payments for movies which do well financially, but the union says it wants to avoid a strike.

Currently UK actors are paid a flat fee for work which covers box office sales and video and DVD releases, but the union believes its members are getting a poor deal in comparison with US actors, who can get huge bonuses if a film does well.

In the hit film Notting Hill, for example, only American actress Julia Roberts was paid extra for its commercial success. For Mission: Impossible, Equity claimed there had been $1.8m in additional fees for the US actors for the TV and video uses, but the British had not got a single extra penny.

Pact has stated that it is always willing to communicate with Equity.