The Hollywood actor and director Sylvester Stallone is reportedly facing legal action from a screenwriter who claims that The Expendables is similar to his own work.
Marcus Webb is suing Stallone, who co-wrote, directed and starred in The Expendables, for copyright infringement, claiming that the film is “in some places identical” to a film he wrote called The Cordoba Caper. Webb says that he tried to sell this script in Hollywood between 2006 and 2009.
In the lawsuit, Webb is seeking significant damages for the alleged infringement. If he succeeds, Stallone and the film studio which made The Expendables may need to rely on professional indemnity insurance in order to meet Webb’s demands.
A success for Webb could also mean that the release of The Expendables 2 is put on hold, as the screenwriter is also pushing for a court order which prohibits further infringement.
The sequel to the first successful action film is currently on schedule to be released in August 2012, again starring the same action hero cast of Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone himself.