The film came out more than two years ago, but only recently has a complaint been made that there is a major problem with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.
And Tom Cruise, 51, is getting sued for $1 billion because of it.
On Tuesday RadarOnline http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2014/02/tom-cruise-sued-screenwriter-claims-mission-impossible-ghost-protocol-script-plagiarized/ reported screenwriter Timothy Patrick McLanahan filed legal documents in December claiming the hit action movie, which sold $600m worth of tickets worldwide, came from his script Head On. Paramount Pictures is also named in the suit.
Tom’s rep did not return calls to MailOnline.
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Another lawsuit: Tom Cruise, seen during his last public appearance on December 3 at Ben Stiller’s hand and foot print ceremony in Hollywood, is being sued for $1 billion
‘In 1998 I had written a screenplay called Head On,’ he wrote in legal documents obtained by Radar
‘After submitting it to the U.S. Copyright Office, Head On received a copyright certificate protecting its material and author from unauthorized use.’
The writer then detailed the trail of hands the script went through, starting with William Morris Agency, which sent it to CAA, where Tom is a client.
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A comeback: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was such a massive success, it brought Cruise back on the A list and made a star of Paula Patton
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It made $600m in ticket sales: The 51-year-old in a scene from Ghost Protocol, which was one of the biggest hits of 2011
Looking good: The Oscar nominee and Patton in a scene from the blockbuster which made almost $145m in Blu-Ray and DVD sales alone
McLanahan is claiming his script was put in front of Cruise’s agent Rick Nicita, who is married to the star’s production partner Paula Wagner.
In the end, there was not that much interest in Head On.
In 2011 when Tom’s big-budget Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol came out, McLanahan thought it seemed awfully familiar.
A lot of time with lawyers: In December the A Few Good Men actor settled a lawsuit with Bauer publishing which claimed he ‘abandoned’ his daughter Suri, who he’s seen with here in June 2012
On the move: The star, here in October, will make M:I 5 this year
‘I immediately recognized that the scripts for this movie had been illegally written and produced from Head On’s 1998 copyright,’ the writer claimed in documents.
Radar did not detail how Head On and Ghost Protocol were similar.
The way the writer came to the $1 billion amount is he added up ticket sales ($694,710,000), DVD and blue ray sales ($144.5 million), and movie rentals and subscription sales and budget ($145 million), according to the site.
In mid December the Top Gun actor settled his $50m lawsuit with Bauer publishing over a claim that he had ‘abandoned’ his daughter Suri, who he had with ex-wife Katie Holmes, according to The Hollywood Reporter http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/tom-cruise-settles-50-million-667313 .
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Suri’s mother: Katie Holmes, seen here on January 31 in NYC, divorced Cruise in 2012
‘Bauer Publishing, as well as In Touch and Life & Style magazines, never intended to communicate that Tom Cruise had cut off all ties and abandoned his daughter, Suri, and regret if anyone drew that inference from anything they published,’ a joint statement, released in December, from attorneys for Cruise and Bauer read.
Cruise – who will make Mission: Impossible 5 this year – decided to sue in October 2012 after a hearing.
‘Tom doesn’t go around suing people,’ his attorney Bert Fields said at the time.
‘He’s not a litigious guy. But when these sleaze peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he’s going to sue.’
During the litigation, many details of Tom’s private life were made public that raised eyebrows.
‘Tom is going to want to push this one all the way,’ his attorney told The Hollywood Reporter in the summer of 2013.
But he ended up not doing so.
Tom’s next film is Edge Of Tomorrow with Emily Blunt, which will be released on June 6.
Better days: The Oblivion star and Holmes in 2007 – a year after they wed – at the Vanity Fair Oscar party in LA
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