Disney and director James Cameron are facing a federal lawsuit in California. 3-D animator Eric Ryder claims Cameron copied his work in the 2022 movie Avatar: The Way of Water.
Ryder filed the complaint on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He says he worked with Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment in the late 1990s on a film based on his science fiction story KRZ. He alleges parts of his story were used in the Avatar sequel without his permission.
“This action is not an attempt to relitigate prior claims,” the lawsuit says. “It challenges new acts of copying that occur for the first time in Avatar 2.”
Ryder is asking for at least $500 million in damages. He also wants a court order to block the release of the third Avatar movie, Fire and Ash, which opens in U.S. theaters Friday.
ALSO READ: Love in reverse gear: Jarvis confirms breakup with Peller after livestream crash
He previously filed a similar lawsuit over the first Avatar in 2011. That case was dismissed after a California court found Cameron created the film before Ryder submitted his story.
“The defendants’ alleged theft of Mr. Ryder’s creative work to make one of the highest-grossing films ever is blatant and egregious,” said Ryder’s lawyer Daniel Saunders. “It cries out for compensation.”
The complaint highlights similarities between KRZ and the Avatar series. These include human-like beings, large ocean settings, and an Earth-based corporation harming the environment on a moon of a gas giant. Ryder also says The Way of Water includes a plot about harvesting an animal-based substance that can extend human life, which was in KRZ but not the first Avatar.