Death Threats, Sean Penn-Style?

Paparazzo sues Hollywood bad boy over October run-in...and claims Penn threatened to off him

By the sounds of a new lawsuit, Sean Penn wasn't comparing IMDb.com notes when he called a paparazzo a dead man walking.

Already facing criminal assault charges, the Oscar two-timer is now on the business end of a complaint brought by the shutterbug he's accused of  roughing up back in October outside an L.A. area market.

Photographer Jordan Dawes claims in new court docs that he was kicked and punched and had his camera broken after an ill-fated attempt to snap a picture of Penn.

Then came the alleged threat.

"The next time I see you, you will be in a box," the 49-year-old actor is quoted in court papers as telling Dawes.

Read the lawsuit.

Dawes, who according to his website is the inventor of a three-funnel beer bong and a line of sex toys, says he needed knee surgery after the alleged smackdown.

A rep for Penn declined to comment.