(Image Source: ScreenRant)

BY CHRISTINA HONAN

Did James Cameron steal the idea behind the highest grossing film of all time? One former employee seems to think he had the idea for Avatar. He’s now suing Cameron and Lightstorm Entertainment to prove it. Here’s Celeb TV.

“Eric Ryder says in 1999, he wrote a story called K.R.Z. 2068, a ‘environmentally themed 3D epic about a corporations colonization of a distant moon.’ The story also included a corporation spy, organically created beings populating that moon, and a relationship between the spy and one of the beings. Sounds a whole lot like Avatar to us.”

In Hollywood, lawsuits over idea ownership are common. New York Magazine explains why this one is different.

“That the accuser is a former employee of Cameron's, however, does give the case a surprising (and rare) amount of credibility. [Ryder] claims that he developed the plot for Avatar over two years with the understanding he'd be compensated if his employers went forward with the idea...”

So what ever happened to Ryder’s initial project? He says it was shut down. TMZ has more.

“Ryder claims his reps pitched the movie idea to Cameron's production company back in 1999 ... and it was so well received, they had multiple serious meetings with high ranking execs about the development of the project. But Ryder claims in 2002, the company officially shut down the project -- telling him, ‘No one would go see an environmentally themed feature length science fiction movie.’”

Ryder also claims his work included details for several characters and concepts, and even the robotic human-controlled suits featured in Avatar. But is that enough for a lawsuit? The New York Daily News weighs in.

“Of course, longtime Cameron fans could argue that the exo-skeleton has an older inspiration - the one the director designed for Weaver to kick some extraterrestrial butt with in 1986’s ‘Aliens.’ Cameron has said previously that he came up with the idea for the environmental parable behind ‘Avatar’ in the early ‘90s but had to wait for the special-effects technology to catch up to be able to film it.”

And while this is the first former employee to sue the producers of Avatar, many have tried to do so for similar reasons. So many, in fact, Funny or Die even produced a parody sketch called “We’re Suing James Cameron” to poke fun at the trend.

“I saw the Blue Man Group in Las Vegas 15 years ago now, and I was inspired by the story. Couldn’t get it out of my mind. Went out that evening, started talking to this gentleman at the bar who turned out to be coincidentally enough was the key grip, on a little movie called Titanic.”

No previous lawsuits have produced a judgement against anyone involved with Avatar. Cameron hasn’t commented on Ryder’s claims.