Orlando Bloom (left) plays Balian of Ibelin in Kingdom of Heaven
20th Century Fox could face legal action over alleged copyright infringement regards their forthcoming epic "Kingdom of Heaven."
The New York Times is reporting that author James Reston Jr. claims the studio has taken events, characters and other details from his novel "Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade" and used them in their forthcoming film, which stars Orlando Bloom.
Fox is denying these claims and says the film is based on research and history. In a statement the studio says: "The works are not substantially similar. In fact they are completely dissimilar, other than having in common some elements that are historically authentic."
Mr. Reston claims the filmmakers have borrowed details and characters from his novel
One of the main factors raising Reston's belief they have pilfered his book is that the film is set during the Third Crusade, in the 12th Century, which his book covers in great detail. The other is the use of the character Balian of Ibelin (Orlando Bloom) who Reston says is historically obscure but mentioned in his book.Fox say that Balian is only mentioned on ten pages of the book out of four hundred; though it not clear how much of the character is fleshed out.
The director, Ridley Scott, also claims not to have read the book saying for the very reason of lawsuits he avoids reading works about the subject he is filming.
Whether Reston takes action remains to be seen, though sales of his book are bound to increase through any association, whether negative or positive it has with the movie.
You can find out more about "Kingdom of Heaven" in our database . Details on "Warriors of God" are also available .
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