The Avengers may have the Hulk, Thor, Iron Man or even Captain America, but when it comes to real heroes Joss Whedon is at the top, you hear me?! Yes, I am a bit of a fanboy I’ve had huge respect for the writer and director ever since the Buffy days and with his upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron just around the corner he could quite literally kick puppies all day and I’d forgive him. So it’s interesting to hear that an author of a 2006 book is suing Master Whedon, co-writer/director Drew Goddard (who was also a writer for Buffy) and production studio Lionsgate for using his ideas in the cult hit Cabin in the Woods.
You may ask why someone would want to put themselves in the sights of fanboys of Firefly, Buffy and The Avengers, well THR reports that a Mr. Paul Gallagher claims that the whole idea of the movie was pulled directly from his book called The Little White Trip: A Night In the Pines that he wrote way back in 2006. Using examples of character personalities that are near identical and also very similar plot mechanics (which you can read in full here, because we don’t to spoil a great movie) he now wants a $10 million pay cheque to make all the bad go away.
Gallagher says that he self-published his work and made it available for purchase on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, which is the same area that the accused live. Not sure if that was the case back in 2006 but that is what is being said now. I’m not sure if this is someone looking for a payout as I haven’t read his book but it would certainly raise a few eyebrows if his claims are genuine. He also claims he was approached by some movie producers about the book at the time but can’t say whether they were directly linked to Cabin In the Woods, which doesn’t sound very good at all. I still love Joss though, sorry. Fanboy crush.
Last Updated: April 16, 2015
