We got our first official look at Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried in Andrew Niccol’s latest film, In Time, back in July, and it was absolutely fantastic.
A number of trailers and brilliant posters have since been released (if you’ve missed them, you can catch up on everything we’ve seen so far here), but since I’m planning on going into this film fairly blind, I’m staying trailer-free until its release date.
Deadline are now reporting, however, that that release date may now have to be delayed, because author and screenwriter Harlan Ellison has filed a lawsuit (and you can read the filed suit here) against New Regency and writer-director Andrew Niccol.
Niccol is a fantastic writer and director whose brilliance gained much attention back in 1999 when he was nominated for Best Original Screenplay for The Truman Show. He’d previously made his debut with the awesome Gattaca (if you haven’t seen it, I cannot recommend it enough), and has since added to his credits S1m0ne, Lord of War, and The Terminal. His latest film, In Time, is one of the films I’ve most been looking forward to this year, and I really hate the possibility that its release might have to be pushed back.
The short story Ellison claims has been copied is titled, “Repent, Harlequin!” Said the Ticktockman, and having not read any of Ellison’s work, I personally can’t say either way how much of a leg he has to stand on with his suit. This isn’t the first time that Ellison has sued a film for copying his work, receiving an acknowledgement credit on The Terminator after taking legal action against James Cameron and co. by claiming they had copied two episodes of The Outer Limits.
I am of course no lawyer, but having a brief read of the suit he’s filed, Ellison is trying to block the release of the film altogether, wanting Niccol and New Regency to be,
“ordered to impound and dispose of all infringing materials.”
I sincerely hope that that doesn’t happen. Because, no offence intended to Ellison, but I want to see this film so much regardless of who wrote it and whether or not it was based on an as-yet-uncredited short story. It’s not often we get to see new films from Niccol, and this is set to be brilliant, with a fantastic cast that includes Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde, Cillian Murphy, and Alex Pettyfer.
The suit states that in or around November 2010 – after In Time, previously titled Now and I’m Mortal, had begun filming – Ellison and an unnamed third party agreed to work on a screenplay that adapts his short story into a feature length film. As such, I imagine, he wants the film blocked completely because he wants to make his own film instead.
Even if he were to make an adaptation of his short story, I’d still much, much rather see Andrew Niccol’s In Time, because you just know how ridiculously awesome it’s going to be – and it’s ready for viewing right now! I really do hope that nothing will come of the lawsuit, because the scheduled 1st November release date is fast approaching, and I want the film to meet that date. I can’t wait to see it, and am hoping pretty damn hard that nothing will stop that from happening. More news on this as we get it.
