Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard have got to be on some intense highs right now. Though the duo has found much success with their work in the past, they both worked on some major Marvel projects recently that have fans and critics alike swooning. True Believers everywhere are singing the praises of ‘Daredevil,’ which was created by Goddard, and early reports are saying that Whedon hit another home run with ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ before passing the reins of the franchise over to Joe and Anthony Russo so they can direct ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ However, the author of a 2006 novel is claiming that the pair stole his idea and used it for their acclaimed meta-horror film ‘The Cabin In The Woods.’

According to The Hollywood Reporter, writer Peter Gallagher has filed a complaint in California federal court that names Whedon, Goddard, and Lionsgate Entertainment as defendants in a copyright infringement lawsuit in which he seeks $10 million in damages. The author of ‘The Little White Trip: A Night In the Pines’ claims that ‘The Cabin In The Woods’ stole the premise of his 2006 novel and noted that “both feature a group of young people terrorized by monsters while staying at a cabin in what is revealed to be (SPOILER ALERT) a horror-film scenario designed by mysterious operators.” Furthermore, Gallagher accuses Whedon and Goddard of stealing the premise of the self-published book while it was on sale at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, which is close to where the defendants reside and operate. You can read the whole complaint at this link.

Despite the fact that I’m not huge on horror films, I have a strong connection to ‘The Cabin In The Woods’ that goes much deeper than just loving it as a movie. Not only am I a fan of Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, who respectively produced and directed the film in addition to co-writing the script, but the movie was one of the first interviews that I ever conducted for this site was with star Fran Kranz. Because of this, I naturally hope that this all works itself out and it’s all just a coincidence that the two stories have similarities. But until we find out for sure, what do you make of this situation? Let us know in the comments below.