Gravity: author Tess Gerritsen vows to continue lawsuit

This post contains spoilers for the film Gravity.

Here's something we didn't know about. Best-selling author Tess Gerritsen had filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros, over the film Gravity.

She filed the case last year, alleging that Alfonso Cuaron's Oscar-winner smash hit was based on her book. Which also happens to be called Gravity.

In a blog post on her website. Gerritsen reveals that she sold the film rights to Gravity (her book) to New Line Productions in 1999. In her words, "The book is about a female medical doctor/astronaut who is stranded aboard the International Space Station after the rest of her crew is killed in a series of accidents. A biological hazard aboard ISS traps her in quarantine, unable to return to earth. While my film was in development, I re-wrote the third act of the film script with scenes of satellite debris destroying ISS and the lone surviving female astronaut adrift in her spacesuit."

Back then, Gravitygot stuck in development, and it wasn't until the late 2000s that Cuaron penned his film (with his son). "I noted the similarities, but I had no evidence of any connection between Cuaron and my project," Gerritsen admitted.

What persuaded her to take the case to court, however, was that "in February 2014, my literary agent was informed of Cuaron's attachment to my project back in 2000." Thus, she had an apparent link between the two projects. Gerritsen is clear that she's not accusing Warner Bros - which subsequently bought New Line - of copyright infringement. Her case is about asking Warner Bros to honour the agreement she says she entered into with New Line.

Gerritsen's case, however, was dismissed by the U.S. District Court at the end of last week, and it's apparently the lack of a contract between Gerritsen herself and Warner Bros directly that has caused the problem. The judge has given Gerritsen 20 days to file an amended lawsuit, and she intends to do so.

Warner Bros, for its part, has stated that "there is no merit to these claims" and that "we are very gratified by the court's ruling." It added that "as the plaintiff herself has admitted, 'yeah, Gravityis a great film, but it's not based on my book'"

Expect the case to continue.

Tess Gerritsen.