Peter Gallagher, the author of the 2006 book, "The Little White Trip: A Night in the Pines" has accused filmmaker Joss Whedon, director Drew Goddard who co-wrote the film and Whedon's production company, Mutant Enemy, including Lionsgate Entertainment and Lionsgate Films, of stealing his ideas in the horror-comedy film, "The Cabin in the Woods."

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In the lawsuit, filed on Monday, April 13 in a U.S. district court in California, Gallagher is suing for copyright infringement and seeking for US$10 million in damages. The suit claimed that there are many similarities in the elements found in the author's book and the movie such as its plot, characters, and sequence of events, dialogue, and incidents.

Just like the book, "Cabin in the Woods" tells the story of five teenaged friends (three boys and two girls) who find themselves in a remote cabin in the forest where murders have occurred. The murderer then returns to the cabin and terrorizes the group.  In the end, it turns out that the friends are just being manipulated and filmed by persons who are actually creating a real-life horror film.

According to the author of the book, even the two lead female characters had similar names with those in the movie.  In the book, the girls were "Julie" and "Dura," while in the movie they were named "Jules" and "Dana."

Gallagher said that his book was registered in 2007 with the Writers Guild of America. According to Gallagher he was contacted by a number of entertainment industry producers who expressed interest in the book.  He did not name Lionsgate or Mutant Enemy.

The lawsuit is just weeks from the release of Joss Whedon's upcoming "The Avengers: Age of Ultron," which hits theaters  in the U.S. on May 1. 

Lionsgate, Whedon and Joss and Goddard's reps have not commented yet.

TagsJoss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods, copyright lawsuit, $10 million, LionsGate