HBO/Hilary Bronwyn Gayle(LOS ANGELES) — Reese Witherspoon, whose HBO show Big Little Lies took home 5 Emmys earlier this year, is reportedly being sued for another of her producing efforts: the hit 2012 psychological thriller Gone Girl.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, Lesley Weller claims that she sent a copy of her screenplay — called Out of the Blue — to a script consultant in 2005, and that the book Gone Girl, which came out nearly a decade later, was copped from her screenplay.
Weller claims both focus on a married couple who are drifting apart, and contain a twist in which the wife is revealed as a psychopath who sets up her husband.
Weller further alleges that her screenplay and the novel are even structured the same way, and both “feature a scene with a hammer that leads you to believe the husband might hurt the wife,” according to the gossip website.
The book’s author, Gillian Flynn, and the movie’s director, David Fincher, also are named in the lawsuit, which contends the movie lifts from the book, which in turn lifts from her screenplay.
Witherspoon stars opposite Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey and Zack Galifanakis in Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, opening nationwide in March. ABC is owned by Disney.
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