Monday 20 April 2009

New Moon 'halted over lawsuit'

Twilight sequel New Moon has been thrown into jeopardy - author Stephenie Meyer is facing a plagiarism lawsuit over the vampire franchise, according to reports.

The original 2008 movie - starring Robert Pattinson - was a major international hit and has spawned a follow-up which is currently being shot in Canada. The film franchise is based on the popular book series, written by Meyer.

But production on the second film has reportedly been halted following claims Meyer is facing legal action from her former college roommate, who is said to have accused the writer of basing the books on her ideas.

According to I'mnotobsessed.com, Heidi Stanton - who studied alongside Meyer at Brigham Young University, Utah - claims the vampire books are similar to a short story she wrote when she was a student there.

Stanton filed her lawsuit against Meyer in Utah last Tuesday, alleging idea infringement.

She states in the papers, "Quite frankly, I was shocked when I began watching the movie with my husband last week. I immediately told him that she got that idea from me! I wrote a fictional short story with the same ideas when we were in college together."

Meyer claims the premise for the popular series came to her in a dream in 2003 and she completed the first novel three months later.

And the legal battle has reportedly cast doubt on the highly-anticipated New Moon, with production being "put on hold" until the case is resolved, according to the website.

New Moon is scheduled for release at the end of the year.

Source: Yahoo!

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