It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that James Cameron was being sued for stealing the ideas behind his 3D blockbusters ‘Avatar’. Oh wait!… that’s because it was just two weeks ago!
Now a second lawsuit has been filed against the writer/director over the ‘Avatar’ ideas and, this time, the lawsuit is asking for a much heftier sum of cash, to the tune of over two billion dollars. The lawsuit comes from Bryant Moore, a science fiction screenwriter claims that Cameron stole ideas from his screenplays for “Aquatica” and “Descendants: The Pollination”.
Moore claims that there are too many similarities between his two films and Cameron’s movie. The items in question that Moore claims were lifted from his screenplays include: bioluminescent plants, unbreathable atmostpheres, matriarch support of hero vs. heroine, spiritual connections to the environment and reincarnation, appearance of mist in scene, sunlight to moonlight, crackling from gargantuan foliage, blue/green skin and battles in the treetops. Actually, as I wrote that list, I realized that a lot of it could be attributed to ‘E.T.’ as well. Maybe Moore should sue Spielberg while he’s at it.
Moore’s lawsuit is attempting to get $2.5 billion in damages (both actual and punitive) from 20th Century Fox and Cameron’s production company. That’s almost all of the $2.75 billion that ‘Avatar’ has brought in worldwide.
Cameron’s attorney, Bert Fields, says of the lawsuit, “Mr. Cameron was demonstrably the author of ‘Avatar. We can prove that, and we intend to prove that in court.” And an unnamed spokesperson for Fox called the lawsuit “baseless” and said that “we look forward to vigorously defending our position.”