'In Time' will not debut on Oct. 28 if Harlan Ellison has his way

                                

Award-winning science fiction author Harlan Ellison has filed a lawsuit to block the Oct. 28 release of "In Time," the movie starring Justin Timberlake.

Ellison, who has a long record of filing and winning lawsuits (just ask "Terminator" director James Cameron), alleges "In Time" uses material from his 1965 short story, "Repent, Harlequin." The story is based on the premise of a "dystopian corporate future in which everyone is allotted a specific amount of time to live,” according to the lawsuit. The new movie? Pretty much the same.


In fact, the similarities seem so apparent that movie critic Richard Roeper’s wrote in his review of "In Time"  that the film “is based on the short story by the great Harlan Ellison.” Other similarities also are noted in the lwasuit, according to a report by Janice Kay of sciencefiction.com

Ellison is suing the production company New Regency because he believes it used his work without telling him or giving him credit (read: paying him). He also says the release of "In Time" would interfere with his own efforts to make a "Repent Harlequin" film.

The lawsuit could be far from frivolous. Perhaps most famously, Ellison won a suit against Cameron, "The Terminator" director, after alleging the film closely followed an episode that he wrote for "The Outer Limits." He won an acknowledgement credit and an undisclosed payment.

In addition to blocking the release of "In Time," Ellison seeks to have all copies of the movie destroyed.

Your move, Regency lawyers.