Movie News

© 20th Century Fox

WENN

Director James Cameron has fired back at legal action from an artist who accused him of stealing the plot for his hit film "Avatar," by signing a 45-page sworn declaration detailing its creation.

Bing: 'Avatar' sequels

Gerald Morawski filed a lawsuit against the Oscar winner and his company Lightstorm Entertainment at United States District Court, Central District of California, alleging Cameron had used the subject of his paintings as the basis for the plot of the $2.78 billion-grossing movie. Morawski claims that after selling Cameron four art pieces in 1991, he pitched the director a movie entitled "Guardians of Eden (GOE)," about a struggle between an evil mining conglomerate and an indigenous tribe.

However, Cameron has refuted his accusations and last month filed an extraordinary 45-page document analyzing how he came up with the "Avatar" story, recalling his childhood obsession with science, and even hinting at plotlines for the sci-fi hit's upcoming sequels. Morawski filed a motion to reject Cameron's theory on Thursday and, according to his documents obtained by editors at The Hollywood Reporter, it reads, "In Plaintiff's view, it is no coincidence that, even though those alleged prior works had been in existence for 10 or 20 years, Cameron did not write the scriptment (sic) for 'Avatar' until a few years after Plaintiff pitched 'GOE' to Defendants. In addition, if Defendants had in fact already created works that were similar to 'GOE,' they would have stopped Plaintiff's pitch once the alleged similarity became apparent, and would not have offered Plaintiff a deal for 'GOE.'"

A further hearing is scheduled to take place in January. The case is not the first lawsuit Cameron has faced over the blockbuster: Eric Ryder, Bryant Moore and Elijah Schkeiban all filed suit last year against the director alleging he stole their idea.