Wednesday, March 14, 2012

James Cameron Sued by Man Claiming "Avatar" Was His Idea

James Cameron is best known for his larger-than-life films, including the super-popular science fiction movie "Avatar." Now, however, Cameron is drawing some headlines that he’d rather avoid. Apparently, an angry science-fiction fan is suing Cameron for allegedly taking his idea and making it into the Avatar film.

The man making the accusations once worked with Cameron’s production company and has noted that he originated the idea of an "environmentally-themed 3-D epic about a corporation’s colonization and plundering of a distant moon’s lush and wondrous natural setting." That’s a pretty specific claim, indeed.

The suit was filed in LA Country Superior Court, with Eric Ryder, the disgruntled former associate, claiming that his original movie idea was titled "KRZ 2068." He also claims to have pitched the idea to Cameron’s production company back in 1999, though he was turned down for his idea.

For his part, Cameron notes that he came up with the idea for "Avatar" long before that 1999 meeting, primarily because he had to wait for technology to catch up to the ideas he had for special effects. Says Cameron of the environmental theme, "I certainly feel a personal sense of responsibility because I made a movie on these issues. Why? Because they were personally important to me. It's not like the studio said, 'Jim we want you to make a movie about the environment.' No. They said, 'We really like the big epic science fiction story, but is there any way we can get this tree-hugging crap out of it?'"

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