Legal Drama: Movies That Were Subject to Lawsuits

Steel Magnolias is the latest film subject to legal action.

Steel Magnolias - Movies are meant to be entertainment for the masses, but sometimes result in vicious lawsuits that almost kept some of our favorite films out of theaters. The long-awaited remake of Steel Magnolias, starring Queen Latifah, is under attack by a producer for the original film who claims she was not consulted about the remake. She's asking a judge to stop the film's October 7 release unless she's paid a lump cash sum and a share of the profits.  (Photo: TriStar Pictures)
Book of Eli - Plagiarism is as rampant in Hollywood as Botox, but that doesn't fly with Georgia-based author Bridgette Burgin, who claims the story for this 2010 thriller was lifted from her unpublished manuscript after she submitted it for a writing competition. The case is still pending. (Photo: Silver Pictures) 
The Matrix - It's a tale as mind-bending as the matrix itself. For years, the media had championed the case of a middle-aged Black woman, Sophia Stewart, who claimed her registered manuscript is the basis for the blockbuster sci-fi film franchise. After a report floated that Stewart had won and been awarded $2.5 billion, which turned out to be false, the facts (or lack thereof) surfaced and Stewart's case started to seem more like a conspiracy theory aimed at big media.  (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)Avatar - Success has many fathers, and James Cameron's sci-fi blockbuster is no exception. The billion-dollar franchise has been sued by not one, but three individuals hoping to get their hands on Pandora's bounty. One of the suits has already been thrown out by a judge, but the other two are pending. (Photo: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox) 

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Steel Magnolias - Movies are meant to be entertainment for the masses, but sometimes result in vicious lawsuits that almost kept some of our favorite films out of theaters. The long-awaited remake of Steel Magnolias, starring Queen Latifah, is under attack by a producer for the original film who claims she was not consulted about the remake. She's asking a judge to stop the film's October 7 release unless she's paid a lump cash sum and a share of the profits.  (Photo: TriStar Pictures)

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