Flawed Gravity lawsuit needs change, judge rules
LOS ANGELES — Bestselling author Tess Gerritsen’s lawsuit over the 2013 film Gravity is flawed and must be amended if she wants to continue seeking millions in profits from the blockbuster film, a U.S. federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Morrow ruled Gerritsen’s lawsuit fails to show how Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. could be held liable for a 1999 agreement she signed with another production company and studio to make a movie out of her book titled Gravity.
Both the movie and book focus on a female astronaut trapped in space after calamities strike, but Warner Bros. has noted the author downplayed the similarities in public comments before filing her suit. Gerritsen sued Warner Bros. in April 2014, and she amended it earlier this year after Morrow cited problems with the complaint. Her books include medical thrillers and a police series that is basis for the TNT show Rizzoli & Isles.
The author wrote a script based on her book and received a $1-million option from Katja Motion Picture Corp. and New Line Cinema, both of which were later absorbed by Warner Bros. Gerritsen’s lawyers claimed Warner Bros. should honour the contract, which provided the author would receive screen credit and a share of the film’s profits if her story was developed.
Morrow ruled Friday that Gerritsen’s lawsuit failed to show Warner Bros. could be held liable for the agreement.
Gerritsen’s lawyer, Glen Kulik, wrote in an email Monday his firm was reviewing the opinion and planned to file an amended complaint. A lawyer for Warner Bros. has not returned email messages seeking comment.
Gravity, which stars Sandra Bullock and was directed and cowritten by Alfonso Cuaron, won seven Academy Awards and has earned more than $700 million.
The novel and film have some similarities, but their stories aren’t identical.
The novel features a female medical doctor trapped in space after an organism infects her fellow astronauts and kills them. Her husband, who is on Earth, fights efforts to leave his wife in space to die alone.
Gerritsen added elements such as the destruction of the International Space Station by space debris — a key moment in the film — to a screenplay she wrote to try to get her book on the big screen.
Gravity the film does not feature any outbreak of an organism, and Bullock’s character is cut off from communication with Earth and does not receive any aid from people on the ground.