A Chechen author is accusing director James Cameron of plagiarism, claiming that parts of his 2002 novel, SekretnoyeOruzhiye (Secret Weapon), were used in 2009’s Avatar.
Ruslan Zakriyev was quoted by the news agency Russian News Service as saying that scenes from his novel, published online back in 2002, were included in Avatar’s screenplay. “[Cameron] should pay me $1 billion out of the $3 billion which the movie made,” Zakriyev was quoted as saying. “I’d like to form a film studio and make films, too.”
According to the report, the author submitted the novel to an expert council at Chechnya’s writers union, and its members ruled that some scenes from Avatar were identical with those from Zakriyev’s novel.
Zakriyev claims that he has been in correspondence with Cameron, trying to reach a goodwill agreement, but the director told him to line up behind others who have made similar plagiarism claims regarding Avatar. The author is currently preparing a lawsuit against Cameron.
Avatar was 2009’s top-grossing movie in Russia and also collected a Golden Eagle award for the best foreign release.
