James Wan’s Atomic Monster has settled a Malignant lawsuit that claimed the movie plagiarized a writer’s original script.
Malignant Lawsuit Looked to Suppress Free Speech
Writer and director Adam Cosco claimed in his Malignant lawsuit for copyright and breach of contract that the horror movie stole from his screenplay Little Brother, which bears many similarities. Cosco alleged that Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek had handed Wan the screenplay and subsequently Wan had used it as basis for Malignant.
Cosco moved to dismiss the case after reaching an undisclosed agreement to resolve the lawsuit.
If you haven’t seen Malignant yet, just a heads up: the next bit spoils the film’s twist.
The complaint says that both screenplays feature a twist that the protagonist has her twin brother absorbed inside her in the form of a malignant tumor, an inciting incident where the main female character is a victim of violence at the hands of a man that allows the twin to take over her body and scenes of hypnotherapy in which the protagonist recalls repressed memories from childhood.
The judge had already sided with Atomic Monster before the settlement, saying the lawsuit was intended to suppress Atomic Monster’s free speech and that Cosco could not provide any proof the defendants had ever had access to the script.
Cosco had been seeking at least $150,000 for violations of copyright law, breach of implied contract, and restitution.
