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The redoubtable Sylvester Stallone has won another victory, but this time in the courtroom.
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by an author who charged the actor with copying his screenplay to make his 2010 movie “The Expendables,” according to news reports.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York dismissed the lawsuit filed in October by Marcus Webb, who charged the screenplay was “strikingly similar and in some places identical,” to his own script, “The Cordoba Caper.”
One issue in the lawsuit was that both Mr. Webb’s script and the script co-authored by Mr. Stallone and David Callaham had a villain named Gen. Garza. Mr. Webb’s lawyer had said it was notable that generals in both screenplays had the same names and positions.
But Judge Rakoff said, “There must be dozens of characters in movies, in plays, named Kelly or named, as you point out, Garza, or the like,” he said. “Is Garza really a name sufficiently (different)? It is not like it is either a made up name or a very unusual name where you might—you know, if the name was Rumpelstiltskin.”
A sequel, “The Expendables 2,” is scheduled for release on Aug. 17. No word on whether there will be a Gen. Rumpelstiltskin in it.
“Repetitive walking” has joined the list of occupational hazards that could earn you workers compensation benefits in Illinois, according to news reports.